South Lochaber Thistle hold presentation night
South Lochaber Thistle handed out their end-ofseason awards at the weekend at a presentation ceremony hosted by Sunny’s Sports Bar, Fort William, to round off a busy time for the club.
Player of the season was awarded to winger and club captain Martin Munro, who also bagged the top goalscorer trophy with his fantasy football-like 40 goals in 24 appearances.
Young player of the year was awarded to Kentallen centre half Paul McFatridge, sadly missing due to family commitments, who just pipped Keir Kennedy by one vote.
Most improved player was given to veteran midfielder Dave Forbes for his barnstorming performances in midfield after a transformative fitness regime paid off in spades.
Forbes was also awarded the trophy for president’s clubman of the year for his all-round contribution to the life of the club.
SLT president Peter Newman commented: ‘Dave led from the front this season, both on and off the park.
‘His dedication to being his best on the pitch was exceptional, but his loyalty, his role as club treasurer and the example he sets to the rest of the squad is a privilege to watch.
‘Both the manager and I are very grateful for his work.’
Several light-hearted awards were also given, notably to Kieron Lopez and John Ferguson for their roles in team morale, to Lopez and
Andrew MacLean for their continued loyalty to the club and to Craig Cameron and Shaun Hendrie for their notable discipline performances.
As well as the individual awards, the Kinlochleven-based outfit were celebrating team achievements, having secured promotion to the Greater Glasgow Premier League Division 2 after an emphatic 4-1 play-off victory over Rannoch from the division above to round off their second season.
The close season has seen several signings to strength the squad, both on the park and behind the scenes.
Gabor Tot and Russell MacMorran as assistant manager and first team coach respectively, whilst Barna Tot and Andrew ‘Toon’ Brown will add depth, experience and talent to an already exciting squad.
Manager Alan Gray said: ‘At the start of the season we had the minimum aim of promotion and we have achieved that. ‘It would have been nice to have won a cup but it wasn’t to be this time around. A poor start to the league campaign left us with a huge task to gain promotion but it’s down the players’ hard work that we have made it over the line.’