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TOWER -KNOCKOUT CUP FINAL

May. 20, 2012

After the disappointment of the 2-0 defeat to Tower in the League Cup Semi Final last week what better way to finish the season than to get our hands on silverware in the Knockout Cup.

There is no doubt that there is enough ability in the squad to achieve this and I am very very hopeful that we can have a strong performance .

As has been the case throughout this season we are once again missing some potentially important players in Porky,Mainsy and Spade and there is a real doubt about Paul . We have also been missing Berty for several months now and his absence should not be underestimated in any way . Since I started the team 5 seasons ago ,Berty has consistently been up there amongst our very best performers .Has been a real blow to be missing the wee man .

Overall we have done well this season despite the constant enforced changes to the team and I remain convinced that had we been able to have some consistency in selection then we would have been very very close to winning the League and the 2 cups as well as having a much better run in the Scottish .

Some players moved on - wee Buntsy ,Mossy and Dug . Grant decided to effectively hang up the boots - Jamie only managed one game - Coco missed the whole season with a leg break .Craigy decided to chuck it with a month of the season left .

Porky has not played for weeks , Tam only managed a couple of games ,big Scott D came in for a few games .Add to that the ultimately disastrous signings of Calzo and Kevin who could have made a substantial contribution and it is clear that I have had more to deal with this year than the other 4 put together .

However all has not been doom and gloom ,not by any means - Spade has been superb ,Broony has shown that he has a great deal of ability and can be a match winner .Bla has all the attributes required and both Blair and Riki have been magnificent up front . Losing Blair for a few weeks near the end of the season was significant as well .Billy Johnston has come in and had to be patient but has never let me down when given the opportunity .Needed this season to bed in so hopefully can go from here .Scott Wotherspoon is a young lad with ability who can be a very important player to this team in years to come . Like all young lads has made a couple of silly errors in judgement on a Saturday night meaning he missed games but it is all a learning curve for Scott .

Scott Charleston has returned to the club and done just as well as I expected .His goals to games ratio is first class .

Lee McFarlane has been superb - many people raised eyebrows when Lee came in but his consistent performances have made people eat their words .

Basher - what a player to have in the engine room .An absolute delight for a manager - never gives an inch . Magnificent signing .

Asbo - left the wee man to last .Was a big challenge for Asbo but time and time again has shown that he is a shot stopper of the highest degree and another who will continue to improve .I suspect that several players will move on to pastures new in the summer however I will be doing everything in my power to ensure that Asbo is not one of them.

Of the old guard really only left with Bingo Chris Paul and Buntsy and again these are guys that I depend on .Never let me down and turning to todays game against Tower it is for these guys in particular that I sincerely hope that we can get our hands on the Cup .Mainsy nearly comes into the old guard category but sadly is missing the Final today .Another guy who has not let me down this season and a shame he cant be part of it today .

My parting message for this season is really to say that despite all of these set backs we have once again proven that Harthill are a force to be reckoned with and I can promise that I have already been very busy in attempting to secure fresh blood for next season .As well as the undoubted ability which is in the squad at the moment the players I will be bringing in will be guys that I know I can depend on to appear on a Sunday and take their football seriously.With so many changes having to be made at the start of this season this was always going to be a 2 season transformation and in that respect it is inevitable that players will move on to make way for the new guys .

Thanks once gain for the efforts this year boys and the very best of luck today .

Wear that shirt with pride and get out there and show everyone what you are made of .

John