Syngenta: Finlay could be playing 'four or five' levels above the EoS second division, says boss

The Grangemouth side defeated bottom club Hawick Royal Albert 8-0 on Saturday at Ochilview to go top of the division – with the ex-East Kilbride forward grabbing five of the goals.

He also netted a hat-trick in midweek against Thornton Hibs.

“Without a shadow of a doubt he could be playing at least four tiers higher up than this level,” Wylde said of his star striker. "He is only 25-years-of-age and has room to become even better.

"For someone his age he has been about and his time at Rossvale and East Kilbride has served him well.

”He just has a knack of scoring goals and that works at any level.

"His character is second to none too, he could have had six goals but he gave away a penalty to Jason Walton so he could get a goal.

"We paid a wee bit of money for him for a reason. We knew his goals would lift us up the league.”

On the day, a poor Hawick side were no match for the Dyes with Finlay’s five goals added to by strikes from Jason Walton, Jackson Cowan and Kevin Fotheringham.

Wylde’s outfit now sit with a 15-plus goal difference after just three matches, seven goals ahead of their nearest rivals.

The boss added: “The boys just carried on from the midweek match. Long may it continue and we will enjoy it while we can because we are doing everything right at the moment.

“Our fitness is great and we look really sharp.

“When you combine that with the ability in our squad it puts us in a very strong position.

"We want to score goals and play football the right way. Part of the reason we can attract such talented players to the club is because of our style.”

Syngenta now face a tougher test on Saturday, with a trip to established side St Andrews United.

"It will be a very difficult game,” Wylde said. “They are unknown to us.

"We are going to be away from home after two games on the Ochilview pitch.

"That will be a factor and the home side will want to get in our faces and not let us get any sort of hold in the game.”