Notice in the paper today that Scotland Juniors have called up JC Hutchison from Camelon to replace goalkeeper Mark Graham from Linlithgow.

Rather a surprising move as although I wish the lad all the best and hope he takes his big chance, I just don't rate him as being that good. (IMO)

I think there are far better goalkeepers in the East and I'm sure there are a few excellent keepers elsewhere. This seems to be another situation where Jim O'Donnel favoured the West now Burgess seems to be favouring the East!!!!!!!

There's still more West players in the squad than East players...so not sure about favouring on Burgess' part.

theres a lot of good keepers in the east right now walker at whitburn has been playing well hutchison at camelon coyle at bonnyrigg i think that burgess does travel all over the west as well looking at players which im sure the previous managers job prevented him from doing

As far as I know, Keith Burgess selected the East players for Jim O'Donnell.

IMHO a better system would be to have an East v West trial game.

For me though the squad loses a wee bit of credibility with Andy Essler not getting picked. Yes we have 4 others in the squad but Essler is by a mile our top performer this season.

It lost credibility when a player returned to the juniors, played 1 game, and was immediately picked for the squad.

Yes, I'll give you that.

IMHO a better system would be to have an East v West trial game.




yes good idea . you could have

West v East/North.Select
East v North/West.Select
North v West/East.Select

I always been impressed with Hutchison when we have played Camelon. I would have him as 3rd best in the east behind Graham from the Rose & Ross from Lochee.

So are all the best keepers in the East?

As I have it, the keepers are:

Bathgate: Andy Carlin
Bo'ness: Greg Logan
Bonnyrigg: Craig Coyle
Camelon: JC Hutchison
Forfar WE: Stevie Vanderdeyl
Glenrothes: Clive Guppy
Haws: Joe Houston
Kelty: Allan Fleming
Linlithgow: Marc Graham
Lochee Utd: Iain Ross
Tayport: Frazer Fitzpatrick
Whitburn: Stewart Walker

Arthurlie: Peter Shaw
Auchinleck: Adam Strain
Beith: Keith Ross
Bellshill: Scott McNab
Cumnock: Graham Potter
Glenafton: Chris Fahey
Meadow: Michael Wardrope
Rob Roy: Anton Nugent
Neilston: Brian Hewitt
Petershill: Neil Parry
Pollok: Kris Robertson
Vale of Clyde: David Buchanan

I have only seen a few of the keepers from the west in the last few seasons when the Rose have had played teams from there in the cup and to be honest none of them have stood out.

Where Marc Graham had stood out while at HOB before moving to the Rose, Ross at Lochee has always looked a very good keeper and previously Fitzpatrick has been brilliant for Tayport. Hutchison at Camelon is always solid when i have seen him and Frankie from Whitburn can make some amazing saves but is just as likley to fling one in his own net too. Pini at the Rose is one of the best shot stoppers around and i would be surprised if there was a better shot stopper out there.

Best shot stopper in the West is Kris Robertson IMO. Superb reflexes. But hey, that's why we're champions!

have to say I was impressed by John Farquhar of Culter last week - made a cracking save http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=OY8_sAJnsNE

Does Culter still serve tea, coffee & bovril in proper mugs?

Yes! It took our support a bit by surprise! Cuts down on litter I suppose as no one really has the heart to chuck a proper mug onto the terraces!!

There must be better keepers in the east league. In my opinion in the west, this position is quite weak at the moment.

I would give you Robertson as the best (shot stopper anyway), but is still prone to the odd error, usually in big games.

Anyone know who Gary Matthews is with now ?

Glens goalie coach and backup keeper.

The Scotland Junior Team is a shambles. Players returning from seniors getting a couple of games and just going straight into teh team. The only players that O'Donell will take from the West is from the likes of Pollok n Medda. He wants to get himself out and see whats actually on offer in teh West Region. Jamie Longworth has scored 95 goals for us in 4 seasons but just cause hes not a Lok player he doesnt even get checked out. The setup is a joke.

Graham Potter is a very good keeper.

Shows just how good when we have shipped an average of 3 goals a game and he is still running away with Website Man of the match awards

He won't get checked out while he's with a lower league team.
And to be fair - most of his goals will have been scored while Ladeside were in the District League as well. Should Ladeside get promoted you might find he suddenly appears in the Scotland squad. I'm sure that's what happened with Stephen Quigg - as soon as he left Largs to go to Arthurlie he ended up in the Scotland squad - although I don't think he was actually picked to play.

Darren Mitchell from Girvan had a call up last season if remember correctly and he was in the district league

Like the saying goes, you can only beat whats in front of you. He scored a Hat Trick in teh WOS Final last year against Pollok and scored 30 odd goals last seaosn in teh super first. And also, is that not the thing thats wrong with teh Scotland Setup ? The example you gave of quigg, just sums up how much of a joke the Junior Scotland setup is.

jim o'donell isnt the manager anymore,Keith Burgess took over just before the isle of man tournament

But Alain Kinney scored 35 goals last season also and failed to cut the mustard with Pollok and Neilston before that.

Thats the thing when you have good players in lower league teams. They get looked over. With the couple of games i attended in the juniors this year most of them lower league there are a few cracking players. Likes of Glencairn in the district league 1 they only conceded there first league goals last week which indicates they have a few good players.

The lower divisions have poorer players, though Glens aren't that bad a side and beat a Lok XI earlier on in the season though neither side could claim to be full strength.

What happened to kevin bell.Is he not number one at Rob Roy anymore.?

Nugent seems to have the gloves just now. Bell's barely featured this season, though was on the bench a few weeks ago.

Surely Brian Hewitt must come somewhere near the top of the list to be the best in the west !!! Proven goalkeeper at top junior level with bags of experience. Has been injured for a couple of months now thoughand i doubt he will make the polock game either.

Let's not forget about Clive Guppy of Glenrothes, any time we've played them he has been outstanding. Just a little lad, but an excellent shot stopper and deals with high balls coming into his area really well. Considering the terrible injuries to his arm and hand he is superb.

I have to disagree. He can't be top of the list, as he never comes off his line !
He conceded 5 headed goals against Meadow last season, 2 or 3 due to his reluctance to come off his line.

Was the reason you never reached the semi's a few years ago. (so I heard)

I know Neilston fans rate him highly, but every time I see him, he's poor.

might be a big ask but could you put the senior teams to the names of the keepers if any and if atall possible cheers

I've done all keepers with these clubs (Senior club order from first to last, may include trialist stints):

(n/a = did not play at senior level)

Bathgate:
Andy Carlin (27) - Morton, Clydebank, Stenhousemuir, Cowdenbeath, Stenhousemuir
Jordan Longmuir (21) - n/a

Bo'ness:
Greg Logan (29) - n/a
Gavin Kirkwood (45?) - East Stirlingshire, Berwick Rangers

Bonnyrigg:
Craig Coyle (28) - Raith Rovers, Morton, Arbroath, Berwick Rangers
Lenny Clark (37) - n/a

Camelon:
JC Hutchison (23) - Hibs, Falkirk

Forfar WE:
Stevie Vanderdeyl (24) - Dundee, Brechin City
Chris Hutchison (20) - n/a

Glenrothes:
Clive Guppy (38) - n/a
Jamie Roberts (19) - East Fife

Hill of Beath:
Joe Houston (21) - n/a

Kelty:
Allan Fleming (24) - Cowdenbeath
Malcolm Coull - n/a

Linlithgow:
Marc Graham (31) - Stenhousemuir, Clyde, Cowdenbeath, East Fife
Steven Pinkowski (25) - Celtic, Partick Thistle

Lochee Utd:
Iain Ross (24) - East Fife (and perhaps Dundee at U17?)
Russell Brown (27) - Raith Rovers

Tayport:
Frazer Fitzpatrick (38) - Montrose
David Currie (19) - Falkirk, Raith Rovers

Whitburn:
Stewart Walker (29) - Livingston
Robert Beveridge - n/a

Arthurlie:
Peter Shaw (21) - Dunfermline, Dumbarton
Derek Scrimgour (30) - St. Mirren, Berwick Rangers, Dumbarton, Queen's Park

Auchinleck:
Adam Strain (27) - Kilmarnock
James Evans (26) - Bolton, Boston, Alloa

Beith:
Keith Ross (28) - Morton
Robert Tiropoulos (22) - Alloa, East Stirling
John Wight (34) - Albion Rovers, Dumbarton (may have retired... again)

Bellshill:
Scott McNab (33?) - n/a
Martin Fusari (24?) - n/a

Cumnock:
Graham Potter (29) - Hamilton Accies
Scott Johnstone (19) - Stenhousemuir

Glenafton:
Chris Fahey (30) - Albion Rovers, Stenhousemuir, Raith Rovers
Gary Matthews (38) - Kilmarnock, Clydebank, Stranraer

Meadow:
Michael Wardrope - n/a

Rob Roy:
Anton Nugent (25) - Rangers, Doncaster, Stirling Albion, East Stirlingshire, Dumbarton
Kevin Bell (29) - n/a

Neilston:
Brian Hewitt (33) - n/a
Seamus McCafferty (21) - Partick Thistle, Clyde

Petershill:
Neil Parry (23) - Stenhousemuir
John Paul Stark (22) - Queen's Park, Morton

Pollok:
Kris Robertson (26) - Queens Park Rangers, Hamilton, St. Mirren, Dumbarton, Aberdeen, QOS, Shelbourne
Robbie MacKillop (23) - Morton

Vale of Clyde:
David Buchanan - n/a
Stevie Johnston - n/a
Scott Wilson - n/a

Did the Stuart McIntosh Testimonial go ahead and if so what was the score?

thank you very much

It did go ahead - photos on the ATFC website but no scoreline given! I noticed Cruicky and Sniffer in them. Wish the latter was still a Lok player.

EDIT: Junior Scotland beat the Talbot XI 3-0 - goals from Cruicky, Bryan Dingwall and Jim Lister.

I'm sure the same happened with Stevie Swift too when he first went to Irvine Meadow.

aye but did he. like lister score ?

Lister did not score against Meadow. At the time of his selection he had scored one goal all season, with Berwick.

EDIT: Junior Scotland beat the Talbot XI 3-0 - goals from Cruicky, Bryan Dingwall and Jim Lister
^


thought it was for the scotland squad that the thread was about

Your comment was in response to a poster suggesting Stephen Swift got a 'swift' call-up after returning from the seniors, therefore I assumed by asking 'aye but did he. like lister score ?' it was referring to performances justifying the selection. Lister scoring is called 'wise after the fact'.