Successful captains emphasise importance of youth

With all four of Cuckney’s teams either having won a title or promotion through a second-placed league finish, 2016 has been one all connected with the club will remember forever.

And Bostock was keen to highlight the importance of young players.

He said: “Our key to success this year has been the ability to harness the young and upcoming talent we have in the side, whilst being expertly guided by our experienced senior players.

“We all know the task ahead of us for 2017 will be massive. We will be the only second XI side in the league, which will mean a lot of tough games against good teams and a lot more overseas players.

“Our ambitions will remain the same, to bring the young talented players through, whilst trying to stay as competitive as we can. The youth system is at the heart of what we do. Every side we put out is based around this, thus giving chance to all talents regardless of age.

“The success goes to show our youth system works, with the likes of myself, Oliver Wilson and William Ullyott still representing the club after 15-plus years here, after starting as juniors.

Doughty added: “I think the success comes from all the hard work people put in to training, and the work Alan Morris does with all the players, as well as the excellent facilities we have at Cuckney. If we didn’t have this set up then we would struggle to attract new players.

“Success starts at the bottom and works its way up. The juniors I have in the fourth team have seen success for themselves and have also seen the the higher teams achieve great things, so they now know what they are aiming for and what they can achieve at Cuckney.

“I believe the junior section is very important to the club, and if we encourage and progress the juniors then the club as a whole benefits now and in the future.”