AUCHINLECK TALBOT YOUTH ACADEMY REPORT 2017
Academy’s Development Award Status up for renewal in December 17, all criteria currently in place for award renewal, next move is to community club, biggest hurdle we need to cross to achieve this award next time around is the inclusion of a girls’ team, work currently being carried out to source coaches to set up a team.
Academy lost two of our teams this year our 01s disbanded, the 05s folded and moved to Valspar, on the flip side we now have an Under 19s and a 2013/14 team in place.
Match days Merlin is in terrible state, were continually losing games to the weather and struggling to find facilities, in some cases we’ve had to use all weather pitch in Cumnock.
Talks are on-going with East Ayrshire Council & the Community Sports hub about the possibility of the Academy taking over the pitches within Auchinleck Academy when they relocate to the new school.
If successful would provide two 11 a side pitches, two 7 a side pitches and a warm up area. Allowing all age groups to play and train at the same facility. Lot of work still to be done on this project but progress is being made.
Ball boy attendance on match days at Beechwood has gone down well with the clubs after a few teething problems, boys are especially enjoying their half time action on the pitch. Academy also would like to pass on their thanks to ATFC, for granting bucket collections throughout the season.
Campbell Peden
Youth Academy Manger
YOUTH ACADEMY
U19’s – Stewarton Annick 2 Auchinleck Talbot 4
Talbot traveled to Stewarton for a league game w ith only 12 fit players. In wet and windy conditions, Talbot
settled the quicker and took an early lead when after 5 minutes Laird fired a cross into the box that the
defender put into his own net. After 10 minutes it was 2-0 when Dempsey converted a penalty after Laird
had been fouled. Then on 22 minutes, a scramble in the Stewarton box resulted in a shot from Meikle which
was tapped over the line by Dempsey for 3-0. Almost straight away Stewarton broke up the pitch to score,
making it 3-1. Talbot were well on top at this point and on 35 minutes a bad pass back was pounced on by
Haddow, and he made no mistake, leaving Talbot leading 4-1 at half time. Stewarton came out fighting in the
second half and this resulted in a real end to end game. As the game wore on, Talbot started to tire with no
outfield subs. With 10 minutess to go, Stewarton scored a well worked goal to make it 4-2. However Talbot
managed to see the game out and get a deserved win.
2003 – Auchinleck Talbot 3-0 Hurlford
This was a top of the table clash with bo th teams having won all of their first four games. A close first half
ensued where Talbot missed a few chances and had a penalty decision waved away, but also at the Talbot end
Michael Nolan pulled off a couple of big saves to keep it 0-0 at half time. In the second half, Talbot came out
flying and controlled the game in every area of the pitch, completely dominating. The goals came from
Nicolas Jakab, Josh Jones and Michael McCulloch. The win keeps Talbot sitting top of the table. Man o f the
match was Zac Mathieson for not letting a thing past him all day at the heart of the defence.
The boys have a break next week but are bag packing at Tesco to raise funds.
2006 – Game cancelled due to the opposition not being able to field a team.
2007 – The league match against Troon on Saturday was called off due to Troon not having enough players
available. However, a game was arranged for Sunday against Valspar at the Old Racecourse in Ayr. The
match began in the rain with Valspar starting the better of the two teams however Talbot defended well and
soaked up the pressure. After five minutes, Talbot took hold of the game and began to play some excellent
football. The pace in attack was causing real problems for the Valspar defence, with Talbot’s front players
linking up really well. They were creating good opportunities and were able to stick a few away. Valspar are
a good side and were playing well. They carved out a couple of opportunities for themselves, scoring a fine
goal into the corner but for the most part Talbot kept them at bay. Into the second half and Talbot continued
the pressure. The boys were playing with confidence and it was certainly showing in their football,
continuing to create opportunities and score goals. Valspar were playing well on the counter attack but again
Talbots defence was solid with good goalkeeping when required. Valspar scored a couple of deserved goals
however couldn’t cope with the speed of the Talbot play from back to front. This was an excellent Talbot
performance, straight from the training ground. Special mentions go to Ewan Griffiths for a good
goalkeeping display, and to Shaye Bone for a man of the match performance on the wing. Nobody could get
near him.
2008 – It was a wet and wild Sunday morning at the Academy as Talbot Blacks hosted a strong, well
organized Glenburn Dynamos team. A change of tactics and formation was put in place for Talbot,
something they hadn’t done a lot of work on but they adopted the system and worked it to their advantage. It
was a slow start to the game with only a few goals in an evenly contested first half. A strong second half
performance from all boys saw Talbot take control of the game. They were moving the ball about sharply
and being first to every ball, winning tackles and taking their chances when they came. On the whole a very
good performance against a talented Glenburn side and a game both the boys and coaches can take a lot of
positives from. This week we had a team of star performers but special mention to Jayden McCabe who was
asked to take one for the team to change from his normal role and he was brilliant. A standout performance
from within a team that were all outstanding on the day.
2009 – Tigers – good play in all 3 matches against some very physical teams. Murray McRoberts in particular
standing strong, making good tackles and a lot of good passes setting up some good goals for the team.
Golds – started extremely well playing some good stuff at times. One two’s between players were nice t o see
and a really good work rate especially Bilal Mahmood who has really progressed in recent weeks. There was
good passing and movement from the whole team. Switching off defensively at times but this is something to
be worked on in training.
Blacks – good solid start f rom the Blacks today against a really good side with all the boys playing good
football creating enough chances but just not clinical enough in front of goal. The next two games were a lot
more physical than the boys are used to and the heads went down from there. This is something that can be
remedied on the training ground and will look to do so starting Tuesday. The keeper Lucas Campbell
continues to show great promise making great saves week in week out.
2010 – Talbot took 3 teams down to Greenwood Academy on Sunday, playing in terrible conditions but it
didn’t stop the teams performing superbly yet again.
All 3 Talbot teams held there own with some great fo otball played by the boys and girls and scoring some
great goals against a variety of teams . All 3 teams played 5 games and showed their ability in all of them.
Some real progress being made and all kids doing themselves proud aswell as the coaches and parents . Al l
the kids are really enjoying themselves as they continue their journey in football with Talbot and cant wait
for next week.
2011 – Three Talbot teams played their first fun 4’s at Greenwood Academy on Sunday morning. The
weather was shocking which eventually lead to the kids only playing 4 games instead of 5. Talbot more than
held their own with each team playing games against some good experienced teams. They created loads of
good chances in each game. The kids collectively worked incredibly hard while the rain continued to lash on
them. They scored a good few goals and really enjoyed they’re first outing representing Talbot. An excellent
start for them in their footballing journey. The kids did their parents, coaches and club proud.
Thanks
Kenny
