Mark Stowe loving life at Linlithgow Rose after getting off to a flying start

Prestonfield Stadium, home of Linlithgow Rose. (Photo by Craig Brown / SNS Group)Prestonfield Stadium, home of Linlithgow Rose. (Photo by Craig Brown / SNS Group)
Prestonfield Stadium, home of Linlithgow Rose. (Photo by Craig Brown / SNS Group)
Life at Linlithgow Rose couldn’t have got off to a better start for summer signing Mark Stowe with seven goals from their opening five league matches, as he revealed he made the switch from Camelon to win silverware.

A move to a new club always presents a forward with the challenge of getting off the mark – do it early and you’ve won over your new fans straight away, but the longer the wait goes on it can become a real strain on any striker.

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Given the fact the 22-year-old leads the East of Scotland League scoring charts at this early stage, and with four goals on his competitive home debut in a 6-1 defeat of Hill of Beath, it’s safe to say he’s already becoming a bit of a fans’ favourite at Prestonfield.

Stowe credits team-mate Alan Docherty, who joined him in making the move from Camelon, as playing a big part in his impressive start.

“Big Al and I both signed together, we always did well at Camelon together with me playing off the right and him playing up top, we always seemed to link up really well and the same thing has happened at the start of this season,” said the ex-Falkirk youth. “I think that’s why the gaffer [Brown Ferguson] brought us both in. I think we’ve scored 13 or 14 goals as a team so far and me and Alan have scored about 12 of them.

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“I saw it as a step up in my career because Linlithgow are always at the top end of the table and ultimately what I want to do in my career is win things. The direction and vision of the club excited me, it’s a big club. I spoke to my old Camelon manager Gordon Herd [former Linlithgow striker] and he couldn’t speak highly enough about the club, so it was a no brainer for me.”

Rose are unbeaten so far, although they have more draws than victories, and after drawing their last two matches away from home at Dundonald Bluebell and Sauchie, they are looking forward to home comforts tomorrow when they take on Penicuik Athletic who have won their opening five.

Stowe, who starts University next month studying Sports Development, continued: “It’s a huge game tomorrow for us. Penicuik are unbeaten and they are at the top of the league, so if we want to be at the top of the table come the business end of the season then we definitely need to go out and get three points. We are still unbeaten ourselves, so it’s not the worst start to the season but we need to start winning games instead of drawing.

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“We know ourselves that we weren’t good enough last week. We just seemed to be miles off it, and I’m sure all the boys will react in the right way to get the three points.

“We want to be strong at home and hard to beat. We always get the support of the fans which is a boost to the boys, we are looking to keep that form up and make it a fortress, make it a hard place for teams to come too.”

Elsewhere, Tranent are aiming to make it six out of six when they entertain Sauchie. Whitehill Welfare meet Lothian Thistle in Rosewell, while Broxburn Athletic are in Edinburgh to take on Tynecastle.

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