Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Second season targets laid down by Clachnacuddin striker Connor Bunce

Forward Connor Bunce, right, in action for Clach at Deveronvale last season.
Forward Connor Bunce, right, in action for Clach at Deveronvale last season.

Clach striker Connor Bunce is relishing the chance to chip in with key goals alongside hot-shot James Anderson next season.

The 20-year-old joined the Highland League side from Inverness Athletic two years ago.

The Highland League’s young player of the season Anderson, also 20, netted 24 goals for the Merkinchers, eight behind Fraserburgh’s Scott Barbour.

Group group helping forward Bunce

For Bunce, he just wants to keep on developing and contributing to the team.

He said: “Last season was my first season and I am determined to progress further this year. I want to keep my place in the starting 11.

James Anderson, left, was red-hot for Clach last term, scoring 24 times for the Inverness club.
James Anderson, left, was red-hot for Clach last term, scoring 24 times for the Inverness club.

“I scored eight goals last season, which was good after getting into the team in the second half of the season. Hopefully I can help James (Anderson) out up front.

“I’m really enjoying my football. All the boys are really good and a lot of us have been playing here from the age of about 16, so that helps.”

Bunce ready for tough campaign

The 11th-placed Lilywhites were only one win away from finishing in the top eight last season, which would have been their highest finish in nine years.

Breaking into the top 10 is the goal for forward Bunce and the Grant Street side.

He said: “We have a strong squad here and we will be looking to just kick on from last season. Our target is to break into the top 10.

“The league and the teams just seem to be getting stronger every year.”

Good play – despite pre-season defeat

Clach kicked off their pre-season matches on Saturday with a 5-0 home loss against sharp League 2 opponents Elgin City. 

Bunce was happy to pluck the positives from the exercise, adding: “It was a good run-out for us, just what we need at the start of pre-season. All the boys will benefit from the early start.

“Despite the result, I still felt as if we played good football. We made a couple of mistakes, allowing crosses into the box and that cost us.”

Boss looking upwards for new term

Clach boss Jordan MacDonald, meanwhile, and his management team were rewarded for their solid, progressive work in April by being given contracts until the summer of 2026.

And the Clach boss is keeping his focus on improving the squad and consistency of results going into the new campaign.

Clach manager Jordan MacDonald.
Clach manager Jordan MacDonald.

He said: “We were one win away from the top eight last season and our target is simply to improve on last season. We will work the players hard in pre-season and look to kick on again.

“We’re not saying there will be a massive improvement, but as long as we progress from last year.

“We have got a certain style and a way we want to do things. People think it’s easy to play the way we do, but it’s not because you have to work doubly hard to get the ball back.

“Our pitch is immaculate. Fair play to our groundsman Sion Evans – he knows the way we like to play. We just need a wee bit of aggression within our play at times.”

The signing of former Caley Thistle captain Gary Warren was a bold move by the Inverness club on Sunday, with MacDonald making the central defence an area of high priority for strengthening.

And Warren could make his debut against his old club next Wednesday (June 29) when Clach’s next pre-season game is against Championship side ICT.

 

Conversation