Yahoo News St Cuthbert Wanderers players put through their paces after Euros trip
St Cuthbert Wanderers’ players have returned from international duty.
The Kirkcudbright side started pre-season training last month but a number of players were watching Scotland’s disappointing campaign in the European Championships.
Now they’re back and getting put through their paces, with many featuring in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Hole I’ the Wa’.
Boss, Paul Hilston, said: “A lot of the players were at the Euros watching Scotland.
“The friendly on Saturday was more about getting them minutes. You could tell they’d had one or two beers!
“It was more about them getting minutes and it was a good game to be fair, Hole I’ the Wa’ are a good side.
“We missed a couple of chances early on, we probably should have been two or three up at half-time.
“We had a couple of boys off with cramp but you expect that at this stage.”
Jason Kennan scored Saints’ goal in the 1-1 draw. He had previously been on target in a 3-0 win over Lochar Thistle under-20s, with Dylan Paberzs and Leighton McFadyen also finding the net.
Hilston added: “Pre-season has gone well, we’ve had 20 odd boys most nights at training so we’ve started quite well.
“There’s a lot of young boys in our squad but they’re doing really well.
“We’re creating a lot of chances, which we weren’t doing last year, so it’s looking good.
“There’s four or five boys in training we’re having a look at and still another four or five to come.
“You’re probably looking at about 30 players to pick from at the end of pre-season – obviously we’re not going to sign 30 but hopefully we’ll have about 25.
“The numbers are a lot better – we spoke to about 300 players last season. This season it’s not been as many but it’s a lot and some players have asked us to come in and train.”
Saints have the Wee Andy McKie Memorial Match on Saturday to raise funds for Kirkcudbright RNLI and Kirkcudbright Youth Club. Kick-off at St Mary’s Park is 1pm.
On Tuesday, they face Threave Rovers’ youth development squad.
Threave’s first team were due to host Abbey Vale in a friendly last night, with Threave then facing the Castle Douglas club’s under-20s on Tuesday night.
Goalie Andy Downie will be part of the home squad, returning to Creetown after leaving Stranraer.
