Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
YOULE’S KEEPING SHORTS TIGHT..
Mean defence giving Billy room to breathe in promotion hunt
BILLY YOULE believes Shorts’ superb recent form has been built from the back after his side hit Holywood for six on Saturday to move up into second place.
Although they conceded four on the day having initially led 6-1, the East Belfast outfit have developed a more steely side to their game over recent months, with just three goals conceded before that in a six-game winning streak.
Youle won 1B with UUJ last season before they fell foul of the Amateur League over ground criteria and were subsequently relegated into Junior football, so he knows the lay of the land.
And while goals win you games, it’s an accepted creed in football that clean sheets win you titles.
The 1C championship is out of reach this season, with runaway league leaders Aquinas nailed on, but promotion is still very much up for grabs, and with Shorts now boasting a far meaner defence, Youle believes they are in with a chance.
“We’re going rightly and I think we are maybe starting to learn how to win games,” said the Shorts boss.
“Before, we were maybe a wee bit reckless at times. The club as a whole over the last few years has always been there or thereabouts but if you look at their results – now I’m saying this coming off the back of a 6-4 win – but it was always like 4-3s, but over our last six games we are getting lots of nils, we are winning 2-0 or 3-0, we are starting to shut teams out.
“Saturday was a bit of a stutter for us because we were 6-1 up and then we stopped and took our foot off the gas a bit, so we’re just trying to make sure we don’t get too comfortable with what we are doing.
“There’s a discipline between the two teams which maybe hasn’t been there before.”
With their unbeaten run stretching back to November 24, Shorts have been upwardly mobile, climbing into second ahead of Saintfield on Saturday.
But Youle revealed he has been trying his best to avoid looking at the standings.
“From the start of our run of form, I’m not looking too much at the table because we have loads of big games coming up,” he said.
“The ones who are all going for it, anybody can beat anybody, so I’m trying not to look at it but it is difficult because when you are going well, it’s difficult not to look at other teams dropping points.
“But I’m trying to just look at the next game all the time, and to just think about how we set up to beat that team and then move on to the next one, and if we can keep our heads that way we’ll be all right.
“If not this year, then we’ll be looking to do it next year. I’m not sure if this year is too early for us, hopefully not but only time will tell.”
With the season entering the make-or-break phase for a clutch of teams with aspirations of joining Aquinas in 1B next season, Shorts can take comfort from the fact eight of their nine remaining league games are at their Aircraft Park home, even if Youle feels a change of management at Wellington Rec has made life just a little bit more difficult.
“The away game is at Wellington Rec and they have brought in John Logan,” explained Youle.
“John is good at what he does and he will turn them around. We’ve to play them twice and I’m thinking, if we had have had them earlier in the year we probably would have had the points in the bag.
“He’ll set his team up well, have them playing well, they’ll put their tackles in, they’ll be physical, so that is two big games for us and it’s hard to look past those games as well.”
Alan Jamison was the star of the show on Saturday, netting four times to take his tally for the season to 33, with Thomas Mccafferty (2) also on the scoresheet. And Youle believes the striker is benefitting from a slight tweak to his position, and from having Ryan Kelly, who switched from UUJ earlier in the season, up front alongside him.
“Alan used to play as a real 10, dropping in and getting on the ball, but I’ve been trying to play him a bit higher and it seems to be working,” said Youle. “And I brought in Ryan Kelly who scored all the goals for me at UUJ and both of them are working really well together. I think Ryan is into double figures now too.”