Thornton Hibs boss backs decision to end season

The East Region Junior League decided to bring proceedings to a halt following a conference call with the region’s management committee.

This week, the Scottish FA announced that its decision to play no matches at any level until April 30 had been extended into June, bringing an end to the footballing year for Thornton in the Super League South and Kirkcaldy and Dysart in the Premier League South.

“There’s not a lot we can do about it but I think it was the right decision,” Gilbert said, ”we go with the SFA because they run the referees, so whatever they decide that’s it. 

“We’re restricted in what we can do so what’s done is done, but it’s a shame the way it has happened.”

The league bigwigs will now have to make a decision on how the season should end. Gilbert said: “It’ll either be null and void or they’ll do the points per game, which I think might mean Pumpherston will win the league.

“I’m not sure how that would work though, because we’ve got games in hand which would see us top of the league, but we wouldn’t win the league if they went with this average thing.

“Also, the winner of our league and the winner of the Tayside league normally go into a play off with the winner getting into the Scottish Cup, so they’ll have to decide what’s happening with that. It’s just unfortunate.

“But of course it’s all changing next year, there’s going to be one West Lothian league and one Tayside league in the Juniors East Region and all the Fife teams are going to the East of Scotland league, us included.”

Gilbert said in the interim period, the uncertainty had been “very difficult”.

“We were just waiting and the boys were keeping themselves fit.

“We were hopeful that we could maybe get back and play Monday, Wednesday and Saturday to try and finish the season, which would have been good, but once the announcement came out saying it would be June 10 at the earliest, that was it snookered.”

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