BEITH boss Bryan Young is unlikely to have dreamed that in his first year in management he would not suffer a defeat over 90 minutes. But nor would he have ever imagined that his side would play only 11 games, with six wins and four draws; their only defeat, a 3-0 loss, coming after extra time by Clydebank following a 0-0 stalemate in the Soccer Shop Challenge Cup.

When he took over on January 27, last year, Young was looking forward to a fresh challenge to see if he could reach the same lofty heights as a manager as he did as a player. However, with the recent Covid-19 enforced suspension of all Scottish football below Championship level, the chances are the legendary Auchinleck Talbot star may have to wait until next season.

Yet, even with so few games played, Young has found himself extended and pushed in his new role, most notably when the majority of the playing squad he inherited moved away during the close season to join Conference B outfit St Cadocs where former Mighty boss Johnny Millar was at the helm.

The 34-year-old said: “This past year has flown, even though there has been very limited playing time with the initial lockdown last March coming when we had managed just a handful of games.

“Crucially, one of them was a victory over Kello Rovers that saw Beith secure a place in the Scottish Junior Cup semi-finals so I felt the players would be keen to stay on board to try and win the trophy and was therefore more than a bit surprised when the pull of Johnny, their former boss, won the day.

“There was nothing for it other than to build from near scratch by bringing in what new faces we felt were needed as well as developing some of the very promising Beith Under 20s coming through the ranks and the process has been enjoyable in the main though not without its fair share of problems.

“Indeed, after my first month in the job, I made a point of telephoning my old Talbot boss Tommy Sloan and apologising for all the headaches I gave him through my mumping and moaning when I played under him. I now know what it’s like from the other side of the fence, and it’s not nice.”

Beith's revamped core of seasoned Juniors, that includes the likes of Paul Frize, Ryan Docherty, Ally Park and Conner McGlinchey, has been augmented to great effect by youthful newcomers Odhran Markey, Jordan Hood and Jay Shields, while Young has also registered himself as a player.

“Our younger guys had to be thrown in at the deep end due to injuries keeping out several of our more experienced names early in the season so I’m keeping myself in and around things in case the wheel needs greased. Hopefully that’s not the case and they can continue to come through every test asked of them. However, not losing might be all fine and well for some, but there are too many draws for my liking. The end goal is to be winning games and I would like us to start picking up a few more points while at the same time staying as organised and difficult to break down as we have up to now.

“I’m the first to admit consistency has been difficult to achieve in what has been a stop/start season and more so when you don’t know from week to week when games will be played, but we must never stop working at it."

The emergence of Beith’s young guns has led to striking pair Ross McKenzie and Darren Jones being released at their own requests.

Elsewhere on the transfer front, Johnstone Burgh have snapped up feted marksman Paul “Tiny” Stewart from Conference B rivals Neilston after the experienced front man found his starting appearances limited by the scoring form of Dylan Fletcher, Connor Bulger and Adam Forde.

Pollok goalkeeper Josh Lumsden and striker Josh Weir are also on the move, going on loan to Ashfield.