HOLSWORTHY Football Club held their annual presentation evening at Holsworthy Golf Club on Saturday, June 9.

The first team finished 11th out of 17 teams in Division One (West) of the Carlsberg South West Peninsula League, while the reserves under the management of Reece Heywood ended up fifth in Intermediate One of the North Devon Football League and reached the final of the Hutchings Cup.

The under 18s continued to produce plenty of players many of whom are already established themselves in men’s football.

On a personal level the big winners of the night were Kieran Langman and James Dart.

Langman was voted the Manager’s and Players’ Player of the Year in the under 18s and also won the Most Improved Player and Young Player of the Year in the reserves.

Meanwhile defender Dart was a rock-solid presence in the firsts. He won the Manager’s Player of the Year, Players’ Player of the Year and the Supporters’ Player of the Year awards.

Reflecting on the 2017/18 campaign, first team manager, Liam Dart, said: “Last season was disappointing in some ways as we didn’t win anything in terms of trophies but there was progression made with pretty much a new side.

“A lot of young players came in and the performances of the team were good even if we didn’t always get the results.

“The reserves had a good season getting to a cup final with again a young team, and the under 18s continued to impress again last season.

“We are progressing as a club on and off the pitch even if results don’t always reflect that. Last season was very much a stepping stone to move forward.”

Looking ahead, Dart is determined to continue with the club’s youth policy.

He added: “The up and coming season we have retained all of the first team squad with the exception of Paul Banks who has moved to Bude.

“We are in a position we have been working towards for the past four years where we produce our own players through the under 18s and Reserves to play in the first team. We have a good group of young players we are looking to promote and with the upcoming season being the last season of the South West Peninsula League as it stands, there is no better time to bring players through.

“We obviously will continue to supplement the team where possible, but they have to be better players than we already have at the club. “It’s going to be an interesting season for us and a test especially with some of the money some sides are spending to assemble squads of players that are seasoned Premier Division players; but despite being a young squad with the majority under 25 years old, we have the quality and spirit to do well.

“We lacked goals as a first team last season so hopefully we can address this going into this season by creating more chances and being more clinical.”

The full list of trophy winners are as follows:

Under 18s

Manager’s Player of the Year: Kieran Langman; Players’ Player of the Year: Kieran Langman; Most Improved Player: Dan Seymour-Smith; Top Goalscorer: Max MacDonald and Rocco Dyer

Reserves

Manager’s Player of the Year: Joel Greening; Players’ Player of the Year: Ryan Chadwick; Most Improved Player: Kieran Langman; Young Player of the Year for the Reserves: Kieran Langman;

Top Goalscorer: Dragos Placinta

First team

Manager’s Player of the Year: James Dart; Players’ Player of the Year: James Dart; Younger Players’ of the Year: Jay Thomas and Max MacDonald; Top Goalscorer: Adam Smith; Donkey of the Year: Tom Robinson

Club awards

Club Top Goalscorer: Olti Arriku and Dragos Placinta; Supporters’ Player of the Year: James Dart; Club Young Player of the Year: Max MacDonald; Bloomer Award: Ryan Walter; Clubman of the Year: Steve Lee; Eveleigh Trophy: Liam Dart