It's been a very busy few weeks for our Academy & Reserve sides with midweek and weekend games which always kicks the season off but is challenging as other sports seasons such as Cricket are coming to an end.
Our Reserves had a difficult start to the season with quite a lot of key players missing due to Holidays, injury and as I've mentioned earlier other team sports. They lost their first two games but have steadied the ship and have only lost 1 in the last 5 games which puts them in a healthy 3rd place in division 1.
Our Academy have had a very tough time but had a fantastic opening day result with a 2-3 victory over 3rd Division title favourites Kirkby Stephen.
Since then however they have been putting in some good performances but have not had the rub of the green. They have also had key players missing and unfortunately have had yet another manager in Andrew Richardson stepping down due to other commitments.
To bring stability to our Academy set up I (Matt Rogers) have stepped back into the role and I am now Academy Manager for this season. I plan to try and continue in the role the club asked me to do originally this season also with regards to player development and we'll see how that goes.
Bob Norman is continuing as Academy Coach so the dream team so to speak of last season are back together.
The lads returned to winning ways in their last outing beating Ambleside Utd Res 1-8 away with a very convincing performance and one that I was really pleased with.
It was obvious their confidence had took a knock recently which is now returning and they currently sit mid table.
With regards to the role for player development it is going really well. All managers in the senior structure are communicating regularly to discuss players and squads and are exploring opportunities for players to step up to the next level. This will take time but it's something that the whole club has brought into which is a real step forward.
That's all for now. I will keep you updated throughout the season but if you like you can follow us on Facebook, twitter & Instagram for an up to date picture of news and developments.