Dunoon native, Lewis Strapp, finally made his return to Scottish football on Tuesday night (January 14) as the industrious defender was named in the starting line-up for Airdrieonians’ trip to West Lothian to face title-chasers Livingston.
It was the former Morton man’s first appearance in Scotland since coming off injured in March in a 1-0 defeat to Dunfermline Athletic, with Strapp spending the rest of the season injured before joining Finnish side SJK.
It was a mixed bag in Scandinavia for the Scot, with spells in and out of the team, and the fullback decided to return to Scotland after his contract expired at the end of 2024 – citing the passionate Scottish footballing culture as one of his main reasons for returning.
But Strapp would’ve wished he was somewhere less fiery after five minutes of the game as he turned the ball into his own net from a low cross across the six yard box, with the defender unable to sort his feet out in time to clear and inadvertently firing the ball beyond his own goalkeeper to give the hosts the lead.
The Diamonds fought their way back into the game, with Chris Mochrie levelling after 15 minutes, but it would go from bad to worse for Strapp as he was stretchered off just before half-time.
Whilst in a tussle with former teammate Robbie Muirhead, Strapp came tumbling to the ground – only to be met with a knee to the face from his player/manager Rhys McCabe who, in an attempt to clear the ball, accidentally made a sickening connection with his teammate’s skull.
Strapp received extensive treatment on the field before being stretchered off in a neck brace, but resurfaced at half-time walking across the pitch – seemingly showing the injury was not as bad as originally feared.
In Strapp’s absence the Lanarkshire side lost 2-1 and recorded their fourth straight defeat in the Championship, leaving the basement side 13 points from ninth and 17 from safety.
