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Team News
Match Reports
Saints v Dundee West
Sun 9th Nov
Another poor day today, well beaten in the first game, and drew the second. We were very poor in the first, but did well to come back from behind in the second game. Preparation for the game wasn’t helped when Donald had to call off unwell, and there was the non appearance of Robbie. Ciaran Muir, whom has been asking for the past couple of weeks, took over in goal. CIARAN acquitted himself well today despite the hefty scoreline in the first game. CIARAN’S handling was very good, and he stopped a few shots. I’m sure he will progress further the more he plays. It’s difficult to explain why were so poor in the first game, but certain players who have set themselves a high standard, didn’t perform on the day. SAUL COONEY had to leave immediately after the game, as he too was unwell, so there may be a bug going the rounds. The work rate from our midfield clearly has to be stepped up, this can only mean harder training.
The second game was another matter. I think the opposition thought they would breeze through this game and were taken aback. Strangely, we found ourselves trailing at half-time, but I assured the team they were playing well and were just not getting the breaks. I felt if we continued to play in the same manner we would get back into the game, and so it proved to be. CRAIG LOW seemed to be more involved today, and we saw a lot of his touchline trickery. NEIL McDOWALL showed good form today, and also the work-rate needed for playing midfield. NEIL was rewarded with his goal.
Hopefully, with the return of our maestro manager, next week will see us back to playing the football we know the squad is capable of playing.
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Riverside v Dundee West
Sun 2nd Nov
We didn’t play as well today, as we have in recent weeks. I thought we were the stronger team first half of the first game, though we went in level at half – time. We seemed to be under pressure most of the second period, with Riverside scoring the winner shortly before the final whistle. We didn’t pass the ball nearly as well today, resulting in players being caught in possession, and surrendering the ball to the opposition for another attack on our goal. KEIRAN FLYNN tried hard today showing a good work rate. KEIRAN never gives up easily. If he loses possession he’s right back in trying to win the ball again. JOSH McINTYRE was again prominent, showing good positional sense, winning a lot of loose ball, giving us control of play. JOSH also weighed in with some timely tackles.
In the second game we started like an express train, with JAMIE McPHEE hitting a first half hat-trick . We looked out of sight at the interval. However, we again let ourselves down in the second half. I think some players started chasing goals, and lost their discipline a bit, in that they never recovered their position on the park, making it easier for the opposition. Our healthy half time lead proved too much for the opposition to overcome. LEWIS CAMERON always shows us some nice touches, and we are asking him to be a little stronger in his general play. To be fair, he is showing signs he is trying. LEWIS can cross the ball well, and had some luck from one of his corner kicks, which resulted in an own goal.
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Dundee West v Tayport Thistle
Sun 26th Oct
I was expecting tougher opposition today, and so it turned out. We struggled a bit in the first game, and though we were ahead at half – time, the second period was always going to be difficult, facing a strong wind. The Tayport side were well organised, and worked really hard. Although I was expecting an avalanche from the opposition it never came to be, although that was mainly down to DONALD FERGUSON in goal and a lot of good defending in general. DALE FINNIE had a good outing today, always working hard to get back making it difficult for the opposing forwards. He also blocked a couple of efforts on our goal. AARON WILCOX showed up well when he came back to help his defence, with timely interceptions on a couple of occasions. We were beaten in the end by a couple of goals, which was no disgrace considering the opposition.
In the second game it soon became apparent that Tayport had played their stronger team in the first game (as some teams do), therefore our first team’s showing was reasonable. With the wind at our backs we hemmed the opposition in to their own half and really ran them ragged clocking up a good lead at half – time. With BEN AMOS our anchor in defence, it must have been disheartening to the opposition, as in the rare attempts they attacked our goal he was there to intercept all their moves. JAMIE McPHEE, a half – time substitution, came on and created mayhem for the opposition hitting some fine goals from distance. The horrendous weather put a premature end to the game, but it was a sensible decision in the circumstances.
Overall a pleasing display from the squad today.
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Dundee West v Tayside
Sun 19th Oct
Good performances from both teams today, resulting in big wins in both games. Although the opposition wasn’t the strongest, it’s important to concentrate on how we play ourselves. In this respect we were delighted with today’s displays. CLEARLY, players are trying to do what we are asking of them, and we can’t ask for more than that.
In the first game the opposition rarely entered our half of the pitch. ROBBIE FLEMING again took the eye. ROBBIE’S strengths are his willingness to take on opponents, he never gives up. He is skilful and slightly more adventurous than most players his age. Today he was showing he was aware of other team mates around him. BEN AMOS had another rock solid game at the back. BEN reads the game well and times his tackles perfectly. He is very confident moving forward, and always makes himself available after making a pass.
In the second game the opposition were more involved. However, with JOSH McINTYRE in outstanding form they never really threatened us. JOSH is much more comfortable when facing play, and made some telling interceptions today. Another player enjoying a bright spell just now is CALLUM BRUCE who is weighing in with a fair few goals. Today’s first was expertly placed beyond the keeper’s reach.
A good day today, and I’ve just found out we have a home match (12.30 p.m.) next week against Tayport. They usually have good teams especially at the younger age groups.
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Kirri Thistle v Dundee West
Sun 28th Sept
A well below par performance today, resulting in us losing both games. Very strange, as we seemed to be the team playing most of the football. We were missing three players today, but even so we should have proved too strong for what was poor opposition. I feel we had too many players having an off day, regarding the previous high standards they have set themselves. A disappointing way to break up for the holiday period, but I’m still confident in the ability of the squad.
DONALD FERGUSON must come out of today’s performances with some credit. DONALD had a number of fine blocks when opposition strikers were one on one with him. He has improved enormously in leaving his line to narrow the angle when strikers are through. This though, raises questions of our defenders. JAMIE McPHEE showed glimpses of what he is capable of, and it would be scandalous not to mention his solo effort, when he took the ball from kick off and dribbled through the heart of the opposition before planting the ball in the keeper’s net. A contender for goal of the season in my book. SAUL COONEY has been playing particularly well in recent weeks, though I had to ask him to play in defence this week, he never let us down. SAUL likes to make surging runs, shows great strength, and has the stamina to retrieve his position.
Our next game will not be until 19th. Oct. Although we will continue training on Thursdays 6 p.m. Charlotte St.
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Dundee West v Douglas
Sun 21st Sept
Two good wins today, conceding only 1 goal over the two games. Congratulations DONALD FERGUSON who also made an outstanding stop late on in the second game.
In the first game we were always the stronger team, but it took a while to break down our opponents. Our first goal came from some nice passing movement, and we should have really learned from this. We still have players trying to take on all the opposition players, when lifting the head and looking for team mates is the better option. Our strength and quality told in the end, and we won this game well. We took this opportunity to play players in unfamiliar positions, which saw LEWIS CAMERON playing in defence. LEWIS always looks to pass the ball to his team mates, and he got us out of some tricky situations by moving the ball on out of the danger areas. JAMIE McPHEE had another good game today with some great runs up the wide areas, and weighing in with a few goals. The pick of his goals was when he picked up a poor clearance from their keeper and crashed a shot high into the net over the top of the keeper. Great awareness from JAMIE, in spotting the keeper off his line.
In the second game, we didn’t take quite so long to get going, and found ourselves well ahead at half-time. It was noticeable in this game, that the passing and movement was so much better than in the first. Congratulations must go out to DALE FINNIE who scored his first ever goal for Dundee West today. DALE continues to improve in his performances, and he has been guilty before of holding on to the ball for too long, although, today he was looking to pass to his team mates. Although DALE has been shy in scoring, he certainly saved us a lot last season. AARON WILCOX grabbed a couple of goals today. AARON works away quietly in midfield, and never gives up trying to win tackles. Like most players he likes to push forward looking to score, and it paid off for him today.
A good day’s work from both teams today. Douglas were weaker today having 6 players unavailable. This meant they fielded a lot of players in both games, resulting in tiredness in the second game. Even allowing for this I thought both our teams played really well today, and are showing progress on a weekly basis.
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LOCHSIDE BOYS V DUNDEE WEST
Sept 14th
Both teams turned in excellent displays today, always ahead in terms of the football played, and ending both games well ahead in goals scored. Training on Thursday ended on a sour note through indiscipline at training, and there was one small discrepancy in our second game today. I dealt with this at the time, but it will be reinforced to the players at our next training session.
Back to today’s games, and it was a joy to watch some of the football. It was also a nice baptism for our new strips. Pocket dynamo CRAIG LOW had some electrifying runs up the right hand side, eluding many of his opponents, I’m sure he ran through someone’s legs at one point. We’re always mindful of CRAIG’S size, although this does not seem to deter him. He loves playing football and just gets on with it. GREAT ATTITUDE! DONALD FERGUSON is working away particularly well in goal, and it shows he’s listening to what we are telling him. DONALD is patrolling his area much more effectively picking up long through balls on the edge of his box. There is still a lot of work to be done with DONALD, but he shows he is keen to listen and learn. KIERAN WARD is another who thoroughly enjoys his games. We have used KIERAN as a defender from day one, and he has developed a good partnership with the other defenders in the teams. KIERAN has become a little more adventurous lately, taking runs up the wing positions, but he never forgets his number one job is in the defensive position, so he always gets back to take care of that, which means the team maintains it’s shape. KIERAN’S tackling is also first class, and he seems to have rid himself of a habit of pulling back his opponents. AARON WILCOX is beginning to show the form we know he is capable of. AARON is an intelligent player who will always look to see if his team mates are in better position than himself before opting for the shot at goal. Confidence is returning as we see him more prepared to take on his opponent. AARON is another whose size would normally work against him at this age, but he seems quite prepared to take on his opponents regardless of how big they are. The scores would suggest the first game was close, though we won by the proverbial mile in the second game. As we stressed to the players after, the score is far less important to us than how they perform as a team.
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Dundee West v Brechin
Sun 7th Sept
A much better performance from both teams today. We lost by the odd goal in the first game, and were streets ahead in the second, running out easy winners. The pleasing aspect is that the players do seem to be taking on board what we are asking of them. Both teams maintained good shape, and are trying to help one and other. My only slight criticism might be that they don’t talk to each other as much as they should.
We played very well in the first game, but just couldn’t get the better of the opposition. SAUL COONEY was outstanding in this game, with some surging runs up the park, whilst always trying to tee up his teammates with goal scoring opportunities. CIARAN MUIR also stood out in this game with some timely tackles.
In the second all our goals were shared between CALLUM BRUCE and ALAN MILLER. CALLUM has been playing in different positions lately, and hopefully today’s goals will give him confidence for the future. ALAN has been scoring goals for us since we started last season. Today, not only was he finishing well, but he was losing his defender , with some nice turns. BRANDON SCOTT showed us some strong forward runs up the park today, setting up scoring opportunities for his team mates.
All in all a very good show from ALL players today, and long may it continue.
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MONTROSE VICS V DUNDEE WEST
Sun 31st Aug
The scores in both games may suggest otherwise, but this was probably one of the easier games we will face all season. I arrived late and was quickly, persuaded to referee the second half, having been ensured we were well on top in the first half. This may well have been the case, but it certainly wasn’t in the second half. We shipped 2 goals early without much opposition, and it was difficult to comprehend we had previously been playing well. Normal service, however, was resumed and we dully ran out deserved winners in the end. NOT REALLY CONVINCING!
The second game ended even closer, regarding the final score. However, I felt we were streets ahead of the opposition in this game. As Dave said to the players, we probably had too much of the ball in this game and were trying to do that little bit extra before putting the ball in the net.
In the first game great discipline saw NEIL McDowall always maintain good position from midfield, as well as constantly challenging and winning the ball in the same area.
In the second game we saw JOSH McINTYRE equip himself well in midfield, always looking to win the ball, and, importantly, looking to set up his team mates. JAMIE McPHEE, another talented player, always prepared to take on the defender, but, obviously listening to instruction, and looking to set up his team mates as well. BEN AMOS, well what more can you say about him , solid as a rock in defence, but notably venturing further up the park to play some sweet inter passing moves with his team mates. It was also notable that when BEN chose to do this another team mate would cover his position in defence, on more than one occasion JOSH showed the foresight to help out his team mate. This is indeed what the management are looking for.
So why the negative introduction? Well in my view the opposition lacked a sense of awareness in where each player should be playing. The manager told me this was a new team, and it really did show. There were times we were attacking their goal, and there remained three of their forwards in our half. Very few teams will be so poorly organised, and indeed, this team, within a few weeks will iron out these difficulties. It is unlikely we will face many other teams so lacking in development this season. This is why we must turn our possession into goals, or we could end up severely punished.
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Dundee West v Broughty Utd.
Sun 24th Aug
Our first game back together, and it showed really. Very close games in the end, losing the first one by the odd goal, and drawing the second. Still some of the old problems like players holding on to the ball, not playing to position etc. With much less of a pool of players than last season, all players will now have longer playing time. Hopefully this will see the squad developing more quickly.
Good performances from a lot of players today, notably ROBBIE FLEMING, who continues to work tirelessly. He took his goal really well, back tracked a lot, and won tackles. We usually play Robbie as a striker, though he has a tendency to come back as far as defence looking for the ball. We may have to reconsider the position we play him in future. As mentioned earlier, too often, players were playing out of position. This left our defence badly exposed and in particular CIARAN MUIR, had to be at his best to prevent a flood of goals with some important tackles. Where was his defensive partner? There were glimpses of the previous brilliance we have before witnessed from KEIRAN FLYNN, one of which, resulted in his well taken goal. Keiran still has a tendency to hold on to the ball too much, when other players are in good position. I feel this is a result of always wanting to score, but it’s early days, and hopefully, he’ll learn.
Their coach was asking how we have been getting on in friendly matches, and seemed surprised to learn we had not been playing any. This shows they are probably better match prepared than we are at the moment. I believe that we will improve as a team as we get a few more matches under our belts. It was still an enjoyable couple of games, played in the right spirit.
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