Defender Jevan Anderson insists Elgin City are determined to get the new season off to a flying start after lifting the silverware in their Borough Briggs tournament.
Anderson, a key signing for the League 2 club from Cove Rangers this summer, scored in the 2-0 final win against League 1 Peterhead on Sunday, 24 hours after they beat Highland League champions Fraserburgh by the same scoreline.
The competition, which saw Fraserburgh finish third ahead of Inverurie Locos on Sunday, was to celebrate 100 years of City playing at Borough Briggs.
The 22-year-old, who was on loan at Elgin last season before suffering an injury in just his third outing, is forming an impressive centre-half partnership with another new recruit, Jake Dolzanki, who was snapped up from Jeanfield Swifts.
A Covid-disrupted pre-season at Elgin last year meant they never got going, with inconsistent form throughout the campaign leading to a ninth-place finish in League 2.
Elgin and Anderson getting sharper on return
After beating Clach 5-0, Lossiemouth 6-0, Fraserburgh 2-0 and Peterhead 2-0 in friendlies over a seven-day period, Anderson feels the early progress is there for all to see.
He said: “It was a good tournament for what it means to the club, but also to get some minutes into the boys’ legs. Everyone is looking sharp and it’s good to see progress from the Clach game last weekend.
“The Clach match was my first game since I got injured back in early March, so it had been a good while. I am just trying to get my fitness back and work well as a back four.
“Hopefully, we are going places.
“Hopefully, we can add a couple of more boys to further strengthen and bring more quality the squad.
“We want to have a much better season than last season. It was really disappointing – but if we can start well then who knows what can happen.
“We have kept four clean sheets in a row and it’s all about maintaining good habits and working on things as a team. We want to then take that into the start of next season and start strongly.
“If you don’t start well, you are playing catch-up. We want to hit the ground running.”
Side can take scoring heat off Hester
Striker Kane Hester, who hit 17 goals last term, has been the main goal-grabber at Elgin in recent years.
Anderson, who is the son of former Aberdeen skipper Russell, is happy to see so many other City players find the net to take some of the pressure off the shoulders of their prolific scorer.
He said: “The gaffer (Gavin Price) and Jim (Weir, assistant manager) are always telling us how vital set-pieces are. I haven’t been here in the past couple of years, but Kane (Hester) has been carrying the responsibility for a lot of our goals.
“Darryl (McHardy) has chipped in with a good few goals, but it is important for everyone to contribute goals. You can’t rely on your striker to score in every game.
“We have a bigger team this year and (defender) Jake (Dolzanski), for example, is another who has already got a couple of goals, so we will try to do as best as we can.”
Elgin tackle Keith at Kynoch Park on Tuesday night before playing at Forres Mechanics in a testimonial for the hosts’ twins, Graham and Lee Fraser.
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