Tony Ross wants to boss Forres Thistle to glory next term after coronavirus robbed the north junior division 2 club of promotion last season
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FORRES Thistle have some unfinished business to take care of when junior football resumes later this year.
Jags were dead certs for promotion last term when Covid-19 brought proceedings to a halt.
The north junior league then asked clubs to vote on how to end the campaign, and the decision to call the season null and void and wipe it from the history books is one which hit Forres hard.
Manager Tony Ross knows his team, along with fellow contenders Burghead Thistle, were in the midst of a title battle and well clear of the nearest challengers in the push for the two promotion places.
“For the league to end the way it did was a big disappointment,” he said. “I think we had played about 70 per cent of our fixtures so for the league to be called null and void was difficult for us.
“It did go to a vote and we voted for average points over the season but there’s obviously a lot of teams who didn’t have anything to play for. The teams at the bottom of their league are obviously going to vote for null and void so they are safe.
“For us to go and lose our first league game of the whole season in the very last game on March 7 before lockdown, that’s a fantastic effort from the lads to go and put that in.”
Ross has discussed the matter during the shutdown with his Jags right-hand men, his brother Chris and fellow coach Lee Davidson, and plans to use their hurt to spur the squad on to repeat their great form.
“We will tell the boys when we go back that you can either sit around and feel sorry for yourselves or take what happened as motivation for this season coming to continue all the good work.”
“We had some really good results. We beat (Superleague sides) Nairn and Deveronside, we gave Hermes a good run and gave Pollok a good run in the Scottish Cup as well.
“We’ve had a lot of good days, good results and performances and I definitely think the boys should be itching to get back and looking forward to getting going for next season and continue where we had left off.
Jags are planning to return to light training sessions on August 11, in preparation for a possible start in October.
“We looked at going back earlier but the guidelines show you can have something like four players to a coach. There’s no fun in that,” he said. “The guys have been away a long time and there’s no point in having four to a group. An extra couple of weeks isn’t going to make any difference so we will try to get back to some kind of decent training and a bit of a laugh and some fun because that’s what it’s all about as well.
“They are on about a start to mid October return so that is what we are preparing for. There’s another announcement (August 24) where everyone is hoping to get back to some kind of contact sport for adults going by Nicola Sturgeon’s guidelines. Fingers crossed, it all stays under control and we can get back to some kind of normality and boys enjoying themselves at football again.
Jags achieved a perfect 10 in their Division 2 matches before Christmas, winning all fixtures to sit comfortably at the top.
A 4-4 draw at Cruden Bay saw Ross’ boys drop their first points in the new year, and another draw allowed Burghead to close the gap. When the teams met on March 7, the Moray coast side ended Thistle’s unbeaten record with a 1-0 success to edge above them into top spot having played a game more.
Days later the sport was shut down due to coronavirus, and both Moray clubs were to be left bitterly disappointed by the league vote to wipe out all results and call the campaign a non-event.
“It’s been a fantastic effort from our lads,” Ross added. “Since we’ve come in they’ve done everything that we’ve asked of them and more.”
Forres expect to retain the bulk of last season’s squad, with work and family matters possibly limiting the availability of a couple of players. Former Mechanics favourite Scott Moore is expected to take part in a second season with Jags, his vast experience crucial to the cause.
Ross added: “We’ve asked them to start doing their own runs and keep themselves fit, there was no problem and they’ve all done that.
“It just shows the kind of mentality we have in the squad, everyone’s keen to do well.”
