Picasso

Three of the regulars were dropped to the bench. The boys played well as a unit and seemed to have a nice balance. Yes there are some who lack top drawer skills, but the endeavour was great to see. In my last 19s comment I said the forwards were scared to put their head on the ball. On Friday, three excellent goals all scored with the head. Murray Kinnaird shouted his way through the match and handled everything confidently. The team were 2-0 up when Aberdeen got their first. Kinnaird pulled off a great save only for it to go straight to the feet of a Don. At 2-1 things got nervey, but the boys didn't sit back. At 3-1, the Dons were panicking. Neale Cooper got sent from the pitch (ie he'd to climb the other side of the wall beside the dugout) for commentrs to the ref. The Dons second came from a break. Kinnaird had no chance as the ball was slotted sideways for Aberdeen to pass the ball into the goal. Apart from that defensive lapse the boys were great. Maybe not the prettiest football, but streaks ahead of what they showed against Keith. It would be difficult to pick a man of the match as they all contributed. Kinnaird was solid in goals. Chad Stewart marshalled the defence well. Martin Laing was good going forward, but might need to have a few bowls of porridge to build some strength. Davey Chambers impressed again. Poor Andrew Greig ran his wee legs off, but he (the smallest on the oitch) was pitched against a giant of a defender - I assume birthh certificates have been checked!! Our goals came from Jack Sutherland, Chad Stewart and Neil Erskine. There was onenegative for me, and this comes via some Aberdeen players/support. Kell and the boys were obviously elated with the performance. Apparently at least one of our boys got a bollocking from one of the staff (not Kell or Doc). The embarrassing bit was the Aberdeen boys were coming out saying "you would have thought they lost". They are young men. Their development isn't just with skills but their psychology and emotional growth is very important. To get a negative after that performance smacks of someone with a power complex. Let them enjoy the day. Deal with the disciplione, if there is an issue, later. But certainly not outside the losing dressing room.

Keith were there for the taking - some of their boys were cramping up before we got to extra time. I thought David Chambers and Andy Greig did their best getting crosses into the box. We have strikers who are scared or unable to use their heads. I've been to most of the U19 matches and that's a fairly consistent pattern. There is good endeavour throughout the team, but the boys in the box don't really cut it just now. It was difficult to know who our captain was. The only voice I could hear was our keeper's, giving direction. He was still dazed I think, after a head knock, when they scored a goal seconds later. He's also ended up with some facial stitches. Several weeks ago he suffered a nasty facial cut going in for the ball. He seems willing to put himself about. Martin Laing perhaps lacks something defensivley, but I thought he was very good going forward with some good positional vision and layoffs. Midfield sometimes has a tendency to slow the ball down, and take the game backwards. Our forwards don't gamble enough. They sometimes lack the vision to see space. However, they are a young team by 19s standards. Their SPL performances have been ok - just don't look like scoring. I think some of them may have thought Keith would be a fairly easy game.

I was at the game. Negatives: nervous first half, better in the second. It was obvious that they hadn't played together. Tended to bypass the midfield and most of the final third cross balls were "kick and hope". Max Johnson was in goals. I've got to say he looked very nervous. I'm hoping it was nerves because I wasn't impressed. definitely at fault for the goal. Came well out of his box and shouted for the ball just as the defender kicked it. Mis-kicked and left the goal ide open for Lossie. He misjudged quite a few cross balls (got under them). He wasn't worked that hard, and hopefully it was first game nerves. Positives: the boys weren't scared to mix it. Some were perhaps more keen to get rid of the ball rather than look for the pass. A wee bit of a fitness issue for some, but the endeavour was good. I would say they potentially made more chances than Lossie but lacked that wee bit in front of goal. You could see that Kell and Doc were getting frustrated. Most of the Lossie players looked older, a feww dirty tricks, but the boys didn't seem fazed by this. Proctor played well. I thought the defence was the strong point, but they needed his steadying head. I would like to think they will hold their own in the U19 League. But somehow I think it might be a long season for them, Go on boys - prove me wrong...please! Having said all that, I enjoyed the game, beautiful evening, and a lovely fish supper!

There's already a keeper at U19, Murray Kinnaird, who has been training with the 1st team keepers this season. He's been signed for next year in the U19. I suspect one of the U17 keepers will be stepping up to U19 as well.