Summer satisfaction for Montrose Youths

MONTROSE Youth Age 10 will be going into the summer break with a sense of satisfaction.

The Angus outfit, who met their Fairmuir counterparts at the weekend, have improved steadily over the past few years and have seen several of their players targeted by senior clubs.

While losing your best men ultimately impacts on the team, boss David Grant sees it as a reward for the hard work put in by the players, coaching staff and helpers at the club.

He said: “We are in our second season now and have seen a few of our players involved at pro-youth level.

“Defensive midfielder Harry Craig is leaving for Dundee United while attacker Wallace Baird is off to Dundee.

“We’ve also had Lewis Grant and Owen Emslie at both United and Dundee.

“It’s great for our club and shows we are doing t hings properly.

“We like to play good football and we are a passing team. That is reflected in how we set up our training sessions.”

And David, who is supported at the club by David Craig, Matt Miller, Peter Davidson, Grant McCombie and Martin Milloy, is encouraged by the amount of kids who want to join.

“We have 18 players at the moment but also have a waiting list of 14.

“That’s a similar situation for all our clubs, and we currently have around 16 or 17 teams, including girls teams, playing under the same umbrella.

“We recently joined the Links Park Trust, which is a charitable organisation.

“That helps us with funding and also allows us to achieve things like quality mark status.”

While David sees for himself the improvement in all aspects of his team, he reckons there is another factor which can be taken into account when gauging the club’s rise.

“We are doing well and, at this point in our development, I would say we are one of the teams to beat.

“But one of the biggest things I notice these days is that we seem to be successful in Dundee on a more regular basis.

“That’s something that didn’t happen so often in the past.”

There is no DDYFA football for the next three Sundays with the action resuming on August 6.

Montrose Youth Age 10 (black) battled it out against Fairmuir last weekend, and the coaches are pleased with the developments they’re seeing week-in, week-out.

A Fairmuir Age 11 player (orange) tried to thread a ball through two Carnoustie bodies to reach a teammate.

A DUSC Age 11 player (tangerine) swivels away from his Dryburgh opponent in the pair’s clash at Craigie 3G.

Action from the contest between Montrose Youth Age 10 (black) and Fairmuir at Graham Street.

A Carnoustie Age 11 defender (red) steps in to stop his Fairmuir counterpart from breaking upfield.