JUNIOR FOOTBALL – PA FRIDAY JUNE 3

Jun 3 2011 Perthshire Advertiser Friday

WITH the season now at an end – at least as far as clubs from this neck of the woods are concerned – here is a review as to how the teams fared.

Kinnoull found themselves relegated from the Premier League, but they were the victim of circumstances, as most of their squad decided to move on and they were left with less than a handful of players.

Gavin Price was appointed to take over as manager in succession to Scott Brown and it was a difficult baptism for him.

He started a recruitment drive that brought a host of new faces to Tulloch Park and it was obvious they would take time to gel, and they lost vital points in the process. They were much improved after the turn of the year and they came very close to beating the drop - another win might have seen them safe.

One of their best performances was in the Scottish Cup when they held Super League side Bo’ness to a draw in the second round at Tulloch Park. With a bit of luck they might have caused a real upset. They made it to the semi-final of the ACA Sports League Cup but lost to Hill o’ Beath and in the East of Scotland Cup they went down to Kelty Hearts.

In the Central League Jeanfield Swifts were best placed, finishing fourth. When Scott Brown took over as manager a few weeks before the start of the season, his first task was to rebuild the rather scant squad he inherited, and early results were poor.

However a few notable signings were made, results started to pick up and they started to climb the table but a few adverse results ended any hopes they were nurturing of being in at the death of the championship. Swifts had the satisfaction of being the only team to take four points from their games with League Champions Oakley.

Swifts had a notable scalp in the East of Scotland Cup when they ousted Super League side Musselburgh in round one, the Lothians side reaching this season’s final of the Scottish Cup. Swifts went out to Harp in the next round and their Scottish Cup hopes were ended in round two by Tranent.

While Bankfoot finished in a very respectable sixth place, to a degree it must have been a disappointment for them as at one point they were the leading contenders in the championship race. They had a run of 11 league games without defeat.

Oakley, who finished as champions, were one of their conquests which was the Fifers’ first league defeat.

Bankies were also going well in the cups in which they had a host of replays and they eventually made it to round four of the Scottish Cup before losing out away from home to Renfrew by 1–0 with the winner being scored very late in the game.

They also won their way through to the third round of the East of Scotland and the quarter final of the GA Cups only to lose out away from home to Broughty on both occasions, in night matches, which didn’t help their prospects.

The long lay-off due to the weather had a significant effect on much of the inward half of their season as it meant a very hefty backlog of fixtures and their rather tight squad was hit with a crop of injuries. As a consequence, both their league and cup performances suffered. However manager Ian Duff and his backroom staff, although disappointed at finishing empty-handed, must take great credit for guiding the Bankies to their best season for some time.

Scone Thistle got off to a poor start in both the League Cup and the league, but as the season advanced, they began to string a few good league results together. They were just one step away from reaching a mid table league position but reverses in the run-in saw them slip a few places down the table.

Unfortunately they also made early cup exits in the Scottish and East of Scotland cups and it was the same story in the GA Cup, although it took a penalty shoot out win for opponents Arbroath SC to make it to the next round at Thistle’s expense. And of course they also lost their manager Alan Cameron who left to join Newburgh.

Luncarty had a win in the League Cup which was away to Scone Thistle. Unfortunately it proved to be the only time they were to finish on the right side of a scoreline as they went on to lose all their following league and cup games. However their ever optimistic manager Mark Potter made no excuses about their dreadful season, he said: “We made mistakes and I include myself, which caused our rather inexperienced teams to get punished to the full, but we also learned lessons which we have taken on board and I am confident there will be no recurrence, as I intend to strengthen the squad with a number of new faces, several of whom have had junior experience.”

Blairgowrie were relegated from the Premier League to the North League, and were made joint favourites along with Montrose Roselea, for the Championship. Unfortunately for Blair and the Roselea it didn’t work out that way for either of them as Roselea finished fourth and Blairgowrie trailed below them in eighth, which was really disappointing for them.

They made it to the third round of the Scottish Cup, the quarter finals of the GA Cup and the second round of the East of Scotland Cup but were obviously disappointed with their poor league performance when expectations had been so high. A few weeks before the end of the season, manager Ross Graham resigned and Jim Lock was appointed to take over and he will guide them forward to the new season.

Coupar Angus finished bottom of the North League with only eight points from their 24 games and they also failed to make any impression in their cup games. They were another club who saw their manager, Barry Britton, depart near the end of the season. Former player Alan Robson was appointed to fill the vacancy, but obviously it was too late in the season for him to make an impression.