An update from our Manager

What a reaction the players gave us last Saturday in a difficult away match against Newtongrange Star. The difficulty of this fixture was highlighted to me after the match from our “super stats man” Laurie Wood when he confirmed this was the clubs first victory away to Newtongrange Star in 50 years.

The victory on Saturday marked the halfway point in the season and we have now played every team once. If I’m being totally honest I think we are short of where we want to be.

Everyone says it but we’ve carried a bit of bad luck at times. I think we are 9 or 10 points short of where we could have been. I think the players are honest enough to say the same and I will now set a target of eclipsing the first round of fixtures tally.

In my opinion tomorrow’s match versus The Swifts is an even bigger game than last week and will be vital in our quest to start looking up the league table and catch the teams above us. We currently sit 1 point above our opponents with 2 games in hand and the aim is to increase that gap further.

We will have a couple injuries to deal with tomorrow.  Tomorrow’s game will definitely come too soon for young Evan Fleming who has been out since being injured against Penicuik but hopefully he will be back training next week at some stage. He’s been a mainstay in the side, incredibly impressive for a 17 year old.

You will have seen the news earlier today that Michael Fairnie has left the club this week, returning to his old club Dalkeith Thistle. Jordan Purves is another who’s decided his future lies away from the club and I would like to thank them both for their hard work and commitment since I joined the club. I’m sure everyone will join me and wish them both well.

I also cannot let an opportunity go by without thanking everyone for their support for the club’s Christmas Raffle. The raffle is the main fundraising event of the year for the football club, and it’s important as we get into the second half of the season and look to next year that we do everything we can to ensure we are well positioned with the squad for next year, so a huge thanks to everyone for their support in both donating prizes and buying tickets. Your support is really appreciated by myself and the players.

Take care

Kevin Haynes

DUFC