Last nights home win against Buchanhaven, under the Dyce Astro lights, signalled the end of what has been a positive season for the Under 18 development squad. This season was always going to be one of transition as we looked to rebuild the squad following the departure of a strong 2006 age group last year, and put in the foundations that would hopefully see us be competitive for the seasons to come. As a result, we established probably one of the youngest overall squads to compete in the 25/26 season with only 2 signed U18 players, with rest of the squad being made up by U17 and U16 players - a number of whom come from our player pathway with Dyce Boys Club.

With this in mind, we knew the scale of the challenge ahead, but it’s fair to say the boys rose to that challenge putting in some good performances throughout the league campaign, and picking up some notable wins against tops side like Inverurie Locos and Banks O'Dee along the way. This resulted in a more than credible final placing of 6th in the league and we are proud of the efforts of the boys, coaches and everyone involved behind the scenes with the squad. Over the last few games, we continued with our philosophy of bleeding in young players who show the potential to step up into the squad, with 5 boys from Dyce BCs U15 side putting in some great performances with the older lads. We’ve taken great pride in putting development before results and ensuring all players get good game time to aid in their footballing progression.

Looking ahead, we are hopeful of keeping the current squad together while bringing in the youngsters, and kick on for the 25/26 campaign. We are always looking to see if any other talented players are looking for the opportunity to play in the Highland League development set up and are planning on hosting 3 open training sessions on 5, 12 and 19 May. If this is of interest, please get in touch with the club.

Finally, we’d like to thank all the parents and other family members for their support over the season and for transporting their son’s around the north east of Scotland on Monday evenings - the support and commitment does not go unnoticed - so on behalf on the players, coaches and club - thank you!

In the meantime, enjoy the summer break and see you in the new season!

Garry Mournian (Dyce FC 18s Development Coach)