Salters AFC Season Review 2008/09
Firstly I would like to thank the following people for all the help and support through out the season. Allan Hogg, Steven Illingworth, Shane Thomson, David Mark and Ian Gillespie for helping me on an almost daily basis to ensure the club is well run and that the players are very well looked after. Drew and Helen from the Salters Inn for their continued support. And also Keith and Len at the league for all their help. The team would never have got this far or had such a successful season without everyone’s help.
I would also like to congratulate Abbey Athletic on a fantastic season. We pushed them as hard as we could and ran them close, however they just edged it. Any team that can win 23 of their 24 league matches deserves great credit and I can’t complain at coming second. The league table never lies; the team at the top deserve to win it.
At the start of the season I was concerned about the lack of experience in the team. We have so many young guys and even the couple of more experienced players we have on board have not won a league title before. With this in mind at the first committee meeting of the season I stated I wanted to finish in the top three and get promotion. I thought it would be a tough target to get to, however in the end we achieved the target and easily finished second, winning 22 of our 24 league games. This is a magnificent achievement and one that I am immensely proud of. The credit of course goes to the players for showing such amazing consistency, desire, commitment and bags of quality at times during a long hard season that went on for 11 months including pre-season.
We started the season on fire. Wins against the two teams I predicted would finish at the top of the league, Duddingston and Abbey, sent us clear at the top where we have been for the whole season, indeed a remarkable statistic is that Salters lowest league position this season is 2nd place. The thumping of Duddingston and Abbey were highlights, and the 4-2 Cup win over Football Club of Edinburgh was a sweet one having come back from 2-1 with 8 minutes to go. The first league defeat came away from home to Abbey at the Jack Kane. We took a 1-0 lead into half time and had 3 or 4 excellent chances to get a second goal. We didn’t and after half time Abbey completely dominated the game and once they got the equaliser there was only ever going to be one winner that day. It was the only time this season we have let ourselves down, the second half that day was easily our worst performance of the season and we didn’t do ourselves justice at all. However we bounced back and quickly got back on track. We won 7 in a row until we came up against Duddingston again. In the first half we battered them and could and probably should have been 3 or 4 nil up by half time. Duddingston caught us on the break and got ahead. We battled back despite being a man down and got level again, however we again got caught on the break and eventually lost 3-1. Very harsh I thought on the players who deserved much better that day, however I fully accepted that Duddingston kept their heads despite the referee being terrible and took their chances on the day, therefore they deserved to win its as simple as that. After loosing to Duddingston we knew Abbey had it in their hands and it would take a miracle to win the league. We tried to win all our games and we did, however Abbey didn’t slip up and went on to deservedly win the title.
I suppose you can look at the two defeats and in the league and think how different it could have been. Against Abbey and Duddingston we had 3 or 4 very good chances to win those games. But it wasn’t to be. It’s a very fine margin between winning and loosing a league title which is frustrating, but I hope the experience we have gained will be very useful in the future.
The cups were a disappointment. Loosing to Boca was fair enough having played awful that day and they played very well. Going out of the Scottish Cup to a team we should have beaten was hard to take, especially after we beat a very good team in the 2nd round. Newton Heath beat us in the league cup and again that day for massive periods we were on top and could have won it. Then finally Oxgangs beat us 1-0 in another cup again a game I can honestly say we deserved a better result in. We have to aim to perform better in the cups next season.
The lows of the season for me were the Boca defeat, the second half versus Abbey and loosing in the Scottish cup. The other defeats and results are fair enough and I can accept that the players always gave everything.
There are many highs. Winning so many games, playing some great football and just being part of this team is a privilege. Having the two top scorers in the league, having the best defensive record in the league and keeping the most clean sheets in the league are all brilliant. The main highlight for me though was the away tie to Fife in the Scottish Cup. What a day and night that was! The bus journey home having won 4-1 against a very decent team was unbelievable and the sense of togetherness and unity we had that day will stay with me forever.
So on to next season and the premier league. It’s going to be extremely difficult and our main aim will be to stay up in our first season. However I know this group of players very well, and I know they will show no fear and be right up for the challenge. We have a lot of courage and character in our team, we will need every ounce of it come August. No matter what happens I am very proud of the players and I know they will give me everything they have, as they always do.
Thanks again to all the players for sticking by me and being such a privilege to work with.
Cheers,
Paul
Manager
Salters AFC