With the end of season AGM a distant memory back in May, all thoughts are firmly set on Saturday’s opening fixture for the club. Despite the Yorkshire Christian Football League officially kicking off at the beginning of the month, the club has had to sit back and wait while others get some competitive game time under their belts. Nonetheless we have tried to get as prepared as possible, and with an unbeaten pre-season, we go into Saturday with much confidence.
There has been quite a transformation in the team over the summer with a number of players moving on; either to other clubs or away from York, but we have also had a number of new faces join the team. Both our pre-season friendlies have seen us record convincing wins against local York teams St. Pauls and St. Mikes, with some impressive performances, not least from our newest players. Scoring 5 goals in total, and keeping a clean sheet in both games is a great platform to build on as the games come thick and fast from this point onwards.
In the build up to this weekend, it is hard for me not to reflect on the 1-1 draw we had at the Knavesmire earlier in the year against St. Pauls. A disappointing result for us, against our closest rivals, considering before the game we had yet to concede a goal to them. It was a disjointed performance from us, and one we look to rectify this coming weekend. On a personal level, getting injured moments after coming off the bench wasn’t a pleasant experience; however the assist for Ben’s equaliser is still a personal highlight of the season. All that being said, St. Paul’s are an honest, hard-working team that will not give in easily, and it must be remembered that they did beat us in a friendly back in April.
Looking further ahead to the season as a whole our aim this year has to be promotion. After last years slight disappointment of not translating our early season form into a sustained push for the title, we have got to back ourselves to do better this year. We are the highest place team from last year left in Division 2; however, with New North Road dropping down from Division 1, and three new teams in Opportunity Soccer, Mowbray Community Church and Sowerby Bridge United all joining the league, it is not going to be straightforward. We cannot become complacent in any game this season and the message is clear: start well and finish well.
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