HEGARTY LOOKS BACK WITH DELIGHT

With this season's Under-21s campaign concluded, Paul Hegarty took time today to reflect upon a year in which the young Tangerines have gained a fine reputation, not only for their attacking style of football but also, latterly, for breaking into the first team. "After a somewhat ordinary start, we made some good progress mid-season", Paul maintained, "with both our performances and results showing a marked improvement. This was also the period when certain players began to show their true potential, which eventually enabled the Manager to give them an opportunity to make a first team appearance. This was a very encouraging development for both players and coaching staff. And, just as some U-21s proved that they could handle first team level, so a number of Under-18s came onto the U-21s scene. We finished 7th in the league out of thirteen teams, but I do feel we could and should have done better. Yet, despite a few disappointing results, we can look back upon some very pleasing performances indeed, on both an individual as well as team level, and these have given us a clearer picture for next season. We have witnessed a tremendously accelerated improvement in some of the youngsters, especially in Wilson, O'Donnell, Duff, Ogunmade and Jarvie, which is excellent news for everyone at United. These players, as well as everybody in the squad, should feel very encouraged by this development. Also, the Manager has gained added options for next season, and hopefully the supporters will feel excited about seeing these new United-bred players making the grade.