With 2022 drawing to a close, it is fair to say it’s been another eventful and successful year for Dryburgh Athletic Girls & Women. The club has continued to grow and now has around 200 women and girls registered, from 3 years old all the way up to the women’s first team.
The first team, as has been documented, managed to make the SWF Championship Cup final for a second successive season. They’ll hope to continue their improvement in form, from the back end of this year in 2023, and begin to climb the Championship table.
For the Women’s Development team 2022 was a very much a year of transition, as they struggled for a consistent team due to injuries and other commitments. This however did see several of our young players step up and do well in a tough SWFL North/East. The team managed to finish in a respectable 5th place and showed they could compete with the best sides in the division, recording a 4-2 victory in September over eventual champions East Fife Development.
2023 sees the Development team join a 10-team SWFL North for a shorter season, running from January to May. The league will then begin again in August to fall in line with the Championship and League One.
This season will see the majority of the 18’s from last year step up to the Development squad, creating a bigger pool of players which should help support the squad in 2023.
The 18’s, most of whom as mentioned will be part of the Development team in 2023, had a year to remember in 2022. They managed to remain undefeated in the SWF South East/East Kirsty Smith League, clinching the title with two games to spare.
A highlight was lifting the league trophy at Glenesk in their final home game of the season against Edinburgh South. A very respectable crowd gathered to see the team win an entertaining game 5-2, before being presented with the league trophy from Jack McKeown of the SWF.
The U16’s had an eventful year also, with Stuart Melville taking the reins as head coach at the start of the year. A number of new players have also came in and settled well, this has seen steady improvements over the season.
A real plus point has been a large number of the 16’s stepping up to both 18’s and, in particular, SWFL. All the girls the have stepped up have done well, with quite a few becoming a regular fixture in the Development squad over the year. This continues to show the strength of the clubs pathway.
The 16’s now step up to 18’s in 2023 and, despite being a young squad, are sure to make an impact at that level with their experience gained over the last 12 months.
The U14’s perhaps had the most memorable 2022 of all our Dryburgh sides. They remarkably reached two cup finals, as well as claiming the SWF East Caroline Weir League title.
June saw them pick up their first silverware of the season, defeating Jeanfield 2-0 in the U14s East League Cup final at Bayview. They then embarked on a fantastic run to the SWF Youth Challenge Cup final, only to lose out to an excellent Glasgow City side.
Not to be deterred by their cup final defeat, the young Burgh side bounced back to claim the league title, emulating the U18’s finishing this campaign undefeated. It’s sure to be another exciting season for the side in 2023 as the step up to U16’s.
Other highlights of 2022 at Dryburgh have seen the continued growth of the club at the younger age groups, with now two teams at both U12’s and U10’s respectively. All these sides have done well over the year and most importantly the girls have enjoyed coming along to train, play and meet new friends.
The U8’s also managed to take a bit of a scalp in 2022, with their recent victory over the first team. The girls loved the having a chat with the first team players during their presentation and it showed the power of football with the smiles on the girls faces.
Many of our stars of the future have also enjoyed being mascots and ball girls for the first team. This has really brought the club closer together and we hope to see this continue in 2023, with more of our young players from both the girls and boys sections getting involved.
The women’s recreational sessions have also been a continued success over the last 12 months, not only at Dryburgh but across the region. This has led to a number of events, where the women have enjoyed going along for a bit of friendly competition with other clubs.
One of the real stories of 2022 came when Dryburgh Womens Rec player, Sarah Paterson, who, after several years out of the game, kept goal for the first team side in the SWF Championship Cup semi-final. Sarah even managed to record a clean sheet in the side’s excellent 3-0 victory over Rossvale.
All in all, it has been a fantastic 2022 for Dryburgh Athletic Girls & Women. We would like to thank all of our players, coaches, committee members, parents and all of our committed volunteers, of whom without none of it would be possible. Best wishes to you all for 2023.
For more information on our Girls and Womens pathway please email dryburghgirls@gmail.com or DM this page
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