2007/2008 SEASON REVIEW

After being crowned division two champions last season we needed to start well in this campaign or the season could have turned out to be a very long one. We had made a number of squad changes over the summer with a lot of quality added meaning we were a lot stronger than the previous championship winning squad. But we needed to be, as the difference in standard was a lot higher. All the new players settled straight away and a decent start to the campaign saw us in the top half of the league, a position that we would eventually stay all year. We boosted a squad that had an average age of no more than 22, and despite having the young legs to get us around the pitch freely, our lack of experience was probably the main reason why we ended the season just out of the top four and also get beat in two semi finals. Experience cant just be bought, but hopefully after the decent platform that we have built this season, one more years experience on all the players will stand us in good stead for next year when we are determined to improve on this campaign. If we can improve then we will have a very good season. The signs of how strong we possibly can be is that we more than held our own against every single team in the division, infact we did more than that and scared the living daylights out Ryedale (quadruple winners) once and Kirkbymoorside Reserves (cup winners) on four occasions. We are realistic, the gulf between both of them teams and ourselves in a big one and for us to get the better of them would need to see us bring in a couple more quality additions, and moves have already been made to improve the team in certain areas. We have had some bad performances, but we have had a lot more good ones and there have been a number of fantastic performers in the midst of both. Our four sixteen year olds who were playing their first ever year of senior football were fantastic throughout, and all four firmly established themselves in the first team for the majority of the season. I’m not taking anything away from anybody who has pulled Glory shirt on this season because everyone has done their best, but there are some who unfortunately under performed, and they need to improve next term. If they can improve and the youngsters carry on getting better then the future certainly looks bright.