Morning Guys,

Thanks for this prestigious award. I can’t take all the credit though — I’ve got my right-hand man Sam and a fantastic coaches alongside me.

It’s been a good week all round. The boys trained well, and now that the holiday period has finished things have settled down a bit. After the way last season ended, it was important for me to get off to a strong start. We’ve been working hard to put in some big performances, and qualifying for the championship was a chance to prove that’s exactly where we should be competing.

We always knew it would be a tough test away to GCR. With their merger, they were only ever going to get stronger over the summer, bringing in plenty of experience both on and off the pitch.

I was pleased with the game overall, apart from the slow start — something we’ve been working to eradicate. That said, when you’ve been training and playing on one surface (grass or Astro), it can take the lads 10–15 minutes to adjust. Early on we were taking extra touches instead of moving the ball quickly and reacting off the ball, but once we settled in, I thought the performance was strong. We scored a good variety of goals and saw a lot of the training ground work paying off.

It was also great to see the new signings slotting in like they’d been part of the squad for years — credit to both the lads who’ve joined and the existing players for making them feel so welcome so quickly.

Finally, big thanks to CPR for the game. They kept it tough and competitive right to the end, even with 10 men, and created chances of their own. And thanks to Gary Kirkwood — Gary, the 3rd goal was definitely onside… good call! 😂