The new St Cuthbert Wanderers’ coaching team have been delighted with the response from the players since they took control.
Raymond Gordon, Ally McMillan and Craig Rudd were put in charge of first team affairs earlier this month, following the departure of Paul Hilston.
And Rudd has been pleased with what he’s seen on the training pitch so far.
He said: “On our first night after Paul left, we got the boys in and arranged an 11 v 11 bounce match to get them back to enjoying their football.
“We got 24 bodies and a referee in and they really put a shift in, it was a really good standard.
“Last week, myself and Raymond were on holiday so Ally took the training and they trained well.
“On Thursday night, Raymond and I were back, the intensity was great and everything we asked of the boys they did, so we can’t fault them for their effort and numbers.
“I came back six or seven weeks ago to train to get fit because in a couple of games they’d been a bit short and asked me to play.
“The intensity wasn’t great in training, but we’ve asked them to step that up and they’ve bought into that.”
Now the trick will be to get the hard work put in on the training pitch to translate into results in competitive games.
On Saturday, Saints were beaten 9-0 by Lochar Thistle, who moved top of the South of Scotland League in the process.
Rudd said: We knew it was going to be tough. It’s the first game I’ve been involved in on the bench but I’ve watched seven or eight games this season and that’s by far the best footballing team I’ve seen come to Kirkcudbright this season.
“Saying that, the gaps we gave them to play in they used, they pretty much had the freedom of Kirkcudbright to knock the ball round about us. That’s something for us to work on in training this week. The boys were a bit naive in shape, when to press and not to press. That comes from youth football and previous clubs, they’re just a bit naive in how to set up in a formation and we gave Lochar too much space.
“Our starting line-up had two 16-year-olds and five 18-year-olds so we’re just missing that wee bit of experience. As we said on Saturday, look at where Threave were a few years ago, they were exactly the same – they took a couple of years of beatings and look where they are now. Abbey Vale were the same, they won the league doing the same kind of project. It’s a case of them sticking together.
“There’s going to be the odd good day but there’s going to be a lot of bad days so it’s a case of sticking together and keeping morale while we’re a young team, working together and gelling together.”
Another tough day could be on the cards for Saints this weekend as they go to Caledonian Braves in the Tweedie Cup, with their opponents currently top of the Lowland League.
Rudd added: “If we go to Caley Braves and play the same way it’ll be the same result. We need to get the work done on the training ground to stop this happening again.
“The fixtures don’t get any easier, it’s Creetown, Stranraer and Newton Stewart after that.
“It’s a tough run but we put the request up for training and the numbers are in the high teens so we can’t complain about their effort and commitment in turning up to training.”
Saints have allowed Reece Scobbie to leave the club.