dodging finishing bottom on the last
day, sealing the league title after a
long and arduous season and lifting
cups with your Captain and coaches
by your side. All of these occurred
in the South West. In Dumfries
and Galloway at 13s level, Lochar
Thistle showed their class to beat
Mid Annandale in the League Title
Play-off game and in the League
Cup Final after a season where little
separated the two and Dalbeattie
Star beat St Cuthbert Wanderers to
avoid finishing at the foot of the table.
Terregles picked up the double at
15s level while Millenium and Lochar
Thistle split the winning in the 17s
age group.
Valspar BC lifted the 14s Barr
Holmes Construction Cup on the
same day that Ardrossan Winton
Rov ers won 3-1 after a thrilling
penalty shoot-out against Valspar
at 19s level. This game further
ignited the race for the title in that
division, with the added factor of
Scottish Cup finalists Glenafton
Athletic. Valspar BC 14s couldn’t
add to their first piece of silverware
as Caledonian Youth won 3-1 in the
League Cup Final. Glaston 17s picked
up the CYP Cup in a reverse result
against Clydebank while Southside
completed 16s the treble with league
success and in the 19s age group
Valspar fought out Glenafton and
Ardrossan to lift the championship –
a 4-3 loss to Hurlford the final key in
Ardrossan’s coffin.
The biggest talking point though
was the all- South West SYFA
Scottish Cup Final. After Bellfield
Royals’ victory at 17s level, 9 players
went to Bonnyton Thistle while their
coach and captain left for Glenafton.
Few predicted the two could ever
actually meet in the Scottish Cup
– never mind the final. Glenafton
out-done themselves to reach the
final with a 3-0 win over Colony
Park the highlight while Bonnyton
had looked like contenders from the
outset. Bonnyton eventually came
out 4-0 winners at Airdrie’s Excelsior
Stadium. You can see the full ‘Wall of
Winners’ on the YFS website.
AUGUST
The 2013/2014 South West season
began with a bang as treble winners
Southside FC 17s succumbed to a 3-2
defeat to Ardeer Thistle in CAYFA
while Ardeer Thistle and Glenburn
showed signs of things to come with
solid wins at the 19s age group.
In Dumfries and Galloway, the
highlight was the 6-4 away win for
Galloway Thistle over Annan Athletic
in a terrific end-to-end game.
SEPTEMBER
The Scottish Cup kicked off in
September and the South West
region was the host for two very
different shocks: a 6-1 win for Heston
Rovers under17s against Glenafton
Athletic on their Scottish Cup debut
and the crashing out of three-timesin-a-row champions Bonnyton Thistle
to Johnstone Burgh. Bellfield 19s
progressed to the second round of
the Scottish cup after a 6-2 derby win
over Galston in the pick of the early
ties.
Garry Hay as 21 clubs from across
the region received accreditation,
either at Standard, Development,
Community or Legacy level. You can
read and watch highlights from the
night on the YFS website.
DECEMBER
As Christmas dawned the Scottish
Cup came into focus once again as
we know that leagues can’t be won
before Christmas – but can be lost.
Many teams have already had to kiss
goodbye their league title hopes and
some South West teams had to do
the same in the country’s premier cup
competition. Troon were knocked
out by Barrhead at under 19s but
Glenburn MW defeated Blantyre BC
4-2 in an away tie to keep the South
West represented. At under 16s there
were two casualties as Tass Saltire
and Cragie UTD fell to Fernieside and
Albion BC respectively.
OCTOBER
The 11-goal game between Heston
Rovers and Dalbeattie star which
resulted in a 6-5 win for the home
side was the pick of the happenings in
Dumfries and Galloway at 15s level.
There was also an 11-goal game
in CAYFA between Bellfield and
Southside, this time seeing the away
side win by the score of 6-5.
On the school’s scene, Grange
Academy Seniors travelled to
Loudoun Academy to in a fixture
dominated by the Grange in recent
years. The trend continued as the
Grange snatched a late, late winner to
come out 3-2 victors.
Loudoun got back to winning
ways in games against the likes of St
Joseph’s later on.
NOVEMBER
South West region clubs were
rewarded for their success and hard
work over the past year at the SFA
Quality Mark Awards at Hampden.
Graeme Mathie and john Brown led
the event along with Bell Leckie and
Words by Ryan Rowe
Issue # 1 | YFS Magazine | 55