Firstly, I hope everyone is keeping well during this testing time which is very new to us all.

I cannot hide from the fact that the season came to an abrupt disappointing end. I absolutely believe it was the right thing to do at the time. It is more just an element of sadness that for a large number of graduating players, they couldn’t sign off on a high.

I’ll start with BUCS… this will be brief! Not the season we had hoped for having absolutely smashed BUCS the year prior and moving up to 1A. However, I assign a lot of our struggles with myself. Working full time elsewhere meant I am unable to commit on a Wednesday afternoon and this is one of the things that every other BUCS 1A team had & it does alter preparations & professionalism. If there’s something we can do going forward to improve this I will look to do it.

Moving on to Juniors. We started off the season with a win for the first time in 5 years and followed it up with two defeats in the Grill Cup but we did not shame ourselves. The fact that an opposition manager approached the club for 2 of our players before the final whistle of a 4-0 defeat speaks volumes.

In fact, interest in our players this year is one of my biggest highlights. I think it’s fantastic the lads are getting noticed for their ability… even more delighted when they reject the offers! Ross, Christian, Caleb and Stevie all rejecting moves elsewhere as they wanted to see out the Uni’s project & had it not been for COVID-19, they may have been proven right for doing so.

A strong start in the league had us feeling good but we were met by a grim October. Narrow defeats to Hermes, Dalry Thistle and Huntly in cups dented confidence slightly despite showing we can just about mix it with those in the leagues above and we hit a slump in league form up until Christmas.

A new year and a fresh face arrived in Ian Blackhouse. Little did we know, this ex Strollers keeper was away to begin an 8 game unbeaten run and which had us sitting top of the league when play stopped.

This 8 game run was far from easy and the boys showed that along with their technical ability, there’s a great element of fight within them to succeed.

One positive of the abrupt end it would be at least we managed to finish with a thumping 6-1 victory in front of the Old Boys who had traveled North for the annual reunion. That was great.

Would we have won the league? Who knows
Would we have got top 2? Who knows

Did the boys perform outstandingly and put themselves in a position to potentially go up? Absolutely!

Unfortunately we have to say ‘Arra best’ to Sam McLaren, Hamish Levein, Stevie Gold, Joe Walker, Paz Patel, Andy Boyle, Sean Lieder, Ryan Grant & Caleb Ogwuru. Hopefully we can cling on to Ian, Blair and Christian as grads.

To those graduating, it’s been a pleasure. I hope you have enjoyed your time at the club and should be proud of everything you achieved. I look forward to hearing you slating teams of years to come at Old Boys’ reunion, telling them they aren’t half the squad you were!!

To those staying, let’s see just how far we can push this run, embrace the change that’s away to come and keep getting better.

Big thanks to the sponsors & supporters. Some of our fans travel the length of the country to watch their boys play which speaks volumes & then there’s the die hard Lechners!

Finally, to the coaches and committee that have been involved this year, Vinny, Stevie, Lugs, Bruce and Mikey Bruce, thank you lads for making this great team even more professional. The boys are fortunate to have you!

Now get back to the home workouts I sent you & I’ll see you when we return!

Dan