Due to the wonder of the media world I have been given the chance to branch out from my match programme article to put my deliberations on to the Talbot official website. I hope to put up a weekly article where the running of the team, match thoughts and looking forward to up coming events.
Firstly due to being on holiday I was unable to attend the early training and the match with Newtongrange. Due to this I believe my penance was a place on the bench up at Dalmellington where the midges were wreaking havoc on the players and the supporters which made it an uncomfortable evening indeed.
To start my article I will take a look at the signings so far and to say I’m pleased is an understatement. The loss of Mark Campbell at the opening third of the season was a big blow, and although we managed to secure the services of Craig McCracken we relied heavily on Steven White who although not a central defender did a superb job alongside big Martin. It was no secret we were interested in Danny Boyle last season and with him still on the books with Rob Roy we had to bide our time to get the big man to sign on the dotted. He is a player who is in the same mould as big Mark and this is what we lacked last season. Unfortunately Danny is on holiday so we still await to see him in the black and gold, but believe you me it will be worth the wait.
With the loss Scott Johnstone to Girvan we knew it was going to be tough to attract a goalie to Beechwood because of big Andy. To be honest Scott was too good a keeper to be sitting on a bench and I believe the Super First Division will be a better league with him in it. The dilemma was sorted when we captured the signature of Brian Hewitt who a lot of you will know due to him having a successful stint at Neilston and Meadow. Brian has bags of experience which should be a help for big Andy as it provides a training partner as well as cover.
Lastly we won a watch with the signing of Grant Drummond a 21 year old central defender and former Airdrie player. By all accounts he had a superb game against Newtongrange and I had the pleasure of playing alongside him on Wednesday night although he might not feel the same. Welcome to Beechwood lads.
We are all buzzing at Beechwood for the visit of Kilmarnock and the fact that Lee Clark has intimated a strong squad will be playing against us. Hopefully we have a squad in place as Wednesday night was a bit of a disaster when we could only muster 12 players or 13 if you count me. However we did give a good account of ourselves especially in the first half and to be honest some superb keeping kept the scoreline to three goals. Second half was a wee bit more disappointing but you have got to admit that fatigue played a part as the grass was a wee bit long and the opposition had more people on their bench than that was watching the match and fresh legs do matter especially on such unpleasant night weather wise. All credit to Craigmark they gave us a game and I would rather be stretched a bit than the debacle last season when we won 9-0. A good run out I would describe the match.
Scottish Cup draw was disappointing with two away games this coupled with the fact we are away in the West Cup. I have to admit that I was unaware of how the preliminary draw was made but it seems we were in a pot awaiting the three unlucky SFA teams who didn’t receive a bye. A trip to Wigton holds no fears for us but a win could potentially see us face Beith if they beat Newton Stewart. Couldn’t be any worse because we will lose a top Junior side, and especially two clubs who could potentially meet 7 times next season if they are successful enough.
I finish up with encouraging you to get along to Beechwood on Sunday and help honour the ten year stints that Bryan, Colin and James will be celebrating.
