Pro-Life Fitness Centre Kelburne 3rd XI - Season so far

Pro Life Fitness Kelburne 3^rd XI continues to act as a development team playing in West District League 1.  The purpose of the development team is to blend a mixture of senior O?35 players with youngsters playing in the U16 and U14 junior teams who are either excelling or have gained District or International age group recognition.  The aim is not so much winning but preparing the juniors for the significant step up in standard to the Regional League that the 2^nd XI play in, as well as educating the youngsters on game play and sharing experience from the number of ex internationals in the team on what is required to succeed.

The team approached the 2014/15 season optimistic that the squad could build on an indifferent 2013/14 season as the core group of players remained the same and the selected juniors were now a year older and showing signs of physical and game play maturity.

With the support of Pro Life Fitness Centre the 3^rd XI began the season looking professional in our new training tops, a feature that helps set the standard and high light why Kelburne has a more detailed approach than other clubs within this league.  The season began well with only one loss in the first seven games that saw the team score 30 goals and only concede 7 with veteran and ex club captain Billy Anderson proving the perfect foil for youngster Luke Hortin as both topped the goal scoring charts.

As should be expected with a young inexperienced team a dip in form saw a run of two losses and one draw before the team finished the 1^st half of the season with a 3-0 victory to reach the winter break consolidating a mid-table ranking.

Reflecting on the season so far Captain Stuart Robin assessed the progress ? This has been a challenging season so far with a number of strong, physical teams playing in WD1 and the mid table position is a fair reflection on our performance.  For me I must highlight the 6-1 away win to Hillhead that demonstrated the level off hockey that this team has the potential to achieve as it was the complete game for a development perspective as the youngsters really took onboard the information and coaching we have been providing them.  I set this game now as the bench mark for the level of performance we must attain week in week out.  Other key highlights were the return of Neil McIntrye who suffered a horrific double arm break in the summer.  Neil has worked hard on his rehabilitation and not only returned to the team but also to U16 Scotland training and now jets out to India in December to represent the UK Lions.  The team now can relax and we look forward to our annual mid season night out which this year is being hosted by team sponsors Pro Life Fitness Centre.  Come the New Year though training will resume with the aim of achieving a strong run of results similar to the first half?.

Stuart Robin 

3rd XI Captain