The never-profligate Tiwi Daramola spoke to Cameron Wanstall about his Kelty Hearts move, title ambitions with Bo’ness Athletic and his targets going forward.
In his life of lavish luxury - of superstardom both on and off the football pitch - David Beckham never scored a hat-trick. Not once did the match ball come home under the arm of one of the beautiful game's most famous exports.
While Falkirk may not provide the same glitz and glamour as Paris or Los Angeles, for 21-year-old Tiwi Daramola, room to store his hat-trick hallmarks is rapidly running out.
When Bo'ness Athletic knocked Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts out of the South Challenge Cup in November, dispatching of a side three divisions their senior, it was a shock. Daramola's trifecta of ruthless strikes, however, was not.
“It was just one of those games where everything I did turned to gold,” explains the nonchalant youngster. “The first one was a bit scrappy… and after that, every shot I took just happened to go in.”
Daramola's outstanding goalscoring exploits has already earned him a move to cinch League One side Kelty Hearts – an ambitious club currently six tiers above his current side in the East of Scotland Third Division.
The Maroon Machine agreed to loan the striker back to Athletic for the remainder of their title-contending campaign, but have shown their faith in Daramola’s ability and potential, by awarding the goal getter with a three-and-a-half-year contract.
“It (the loan-back agreement) is a compromise from both teams, but I’m conflicted as well. I’d love to go up and play League One football straight away but to finish with Bo’ness on a high, with trophies, would be perfect as well. I’m just happy to have the opportunity to do both.
“I think for me since I've been at Bo’ness, my plan was just to go play football and make a step up. I didn’t quite expect it to be League One, and I think it’s just about having to repay Kelty for the faith they’ve put in me.
“I’m absolutely delighted and buzzing to get going. I’m not in there until the summer, but for me right now, it's just focusing on winning everything we can with Bo’ness until the end of the season. I’ve not won a trophy there yet so to finish on a high, with a league title and maybe one or two cups, would be a fitting way to end.”
A title triumph cruelly evaded Daramola last season when Whitburn and Syngenta both bested Athletic by just four points to promotion from the then-titled Conference X. Though he the net on 59 occasions throughout the 2021/22 campaign, his memories are tarnished by the lack of silverware.
“Looking back at it now, it's horrible. We were right up there the whole season really; we had a wee gap at one point as well.
“We could’ve seen it out, maybe by keeping the focus. There were games where we dropped points, for example against lesser teams when we should have won. It's not something I like to think about anymore, but there’s lessons to be learned from that.”
Always seeking progression and improvement has led Daramola to hitting 50 goals by January. This time around, with his strikes pushing Bo’ness to an 11-point lead at the top of the Third Division over Armadale Thistle.
“Seeing stuff about us being in the ninth tier, it’s annoying. I think we do have the ability to go to the Premier or even Lowland League. You’ve seen it in games this season. We drew with Civil Service Strollers at the start of the season – we lost that in extra time – and I think we had the chances to win that game.
“At Bo’ness, it’s about being forward-thinking and attacking. It’s none of this keep possession or counter-attack football, it’s just: be positive on the ball, get forward and score goals, which is perfect for me. Now we are just going into games and thinking let’s put this to bed early and we won’t have any mistakes. That’s something we are really proud of this season.”
The former Scotland youth international – a “brilliant” opportunity that arose while still on the books at Stenhousemuir, which saw Daramola line up alongside the likes of Josh Doig and Finlay Robertson – has already has targets in his mind for when life at Kelty’s New Central Park truly starts in the summer.
“My goal is just to be starting every week,” Daramola states. “Work hard – and I’ve been working hard this season already but from now until the summer just push on – and make sure I’m ready for pre-season because setting a good first impression for the gaffer up there is my main priority.
“And to go straight into the starting eleven and keep my shirt. At any level of football, that’s all anyone wants to do; play football week in, week out. In League One, there’s a lot of competition, so you need to fight for your place every week. It’s a challenge I’m looking forward to.”
If Daramola continues his goalscoring spree upon his move to the Kingdom of Fife, there’s no doubting this goal machine can be a roaring success at the Maroon Machine.
If you would like to hear more from Tiwi, click on the link below to listen to our full conversation on Spotify:
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