BEITH Juniors boss Chris Strain is set to mark 100 games in charge at Bellsdale Park.

The manager will hit the milestone when he steps into the dugout as his side travel to face Arthurlie in the West of Scotland Cup on Saturday, December 7.

Ahead of the occasion, and following his team's progression into the Scottish Junior Cup last 16 at the weekend - with a 3-1 win at Montrose Roselea - Strain has reflected on what has been a more than impressive first century of matches.

During his time in charge, the Bellsdale boss has overseen back-to-back West of Scotland Premier Division title wins for the Garnock Valley side.

(Image: Stephen Kerr)

Though this season has brought an inconsistent start to their title defence, Strain admits the success they have enjoyed to date was hard to imagine when he first took the reigns.

He said: “When you come in, nine times out of 10 when you get a job it’s not been rosy in the garden previously.

“I think we did well initially coming in and changing the mentality, a lot of the time with the same squad.

“We’ve done really well relative to the budget we have in comparison to teams in our league – so there is loads to be pleased about.

“It’s difficult, and it’s getting harder, to maintain that success when we’ve not been able to hold on to the players we have identified and brought through.

“That’s the price of success, teams with more funds will target players they want to bring in, it’s a back handed compliment that they are wanting to sign our players.”

The former Kilwinning Rangers boss has also enjoyed engraining himself in the community around the club.

(Image: Stephen Kerr)

Strain added: “I’ve been made really welcome here. It’s a really hardworking bunch of guys in the background team with the committee and volunteers. They guys are the lifeblood of the club and they have done brilliant.

“I’ve got a good relationship with the supporters which comes hand in hand with a bit of success.

“From that perspective I have enjoyed my time so far, I will continue to enjoy it and they will continue to enjoy me as long as results are going the way we want them to.

“It is difficult to maintain a level of success over a period of time, but that is what we are striving to do – and get ourselves into a position where we can still challenge for all the major trophies.”

Ahead of the milestone match, and testament to his mentality, Strain was quick to turn attention to the task at hand.

He added: “I didn’t even realise until someone put out about it being 100 games. It’s been a quick one.

“It’s been very successful for us, I don’t think when I came in I envisaged the level of success we had right away. It’s been good.

“We’ve been pretty inconsistent throughout this season, we are striving to get that consistency about us.

“We’ve got another two cup matches back-to-back now so we will be trying to progress as much as we can after a good win on Saturday.

“Progressing in the cups in the next couple of weeks is a priority, then it will take us into a Christmas breaks and we can reassess where our goals are come January.”