Connor Bunce believes he and James Anderson can be a potent partnership for Clachnacuddin after combining to help secure their first win of the season.
Bunce scored from strike partner Anderson’s lay-off on Saturday to give the Lilywhites a 1-0 Breedon Highland victory against Huntly at Christie Park.
Anderson was one of the revelations of last season, netting 25 goals for Clach.
Bunce’s feats perhaps didn’t attract the same attention but he scored eight times and reckons both he and Anderson can go from strength to strength this term.
The 20-year-old said: “What James did last season was incredible and maybe I flew under the radar a wee bit.
“But that doesn’t bother me and hopefully this season I can get a few more goals.
“Seeing what James did was great and quite inspirational really. We’ve got quite a good partnership going which is good for the season ahead.
“On Saturday he did great to set up my goal and without his work the goal would never have happened.
“Over the course of the season I’m sure I’ll be able to set up goals for him as well.”
Individual improvement
Bunce’s personal target for this campaign is to beat last season’s tally and avoiding any time on the sidelines would help his cause.
He added: “On a personal level I’d like to beat my tally from last season.
“I missed quite a few games last season and wasn’t available for the full campaign, I scored eight goals so if I can better that I’ll be delighted.
“I had an operation after the second game of the season and missed five weeks.
“Then after I came back the team was doing well and it was hard to force my way back in.
“It was really the second half of the season when I started to play more regularly and score goals.”
Warren impact
Clach are hoping to improve on last season’s 11th-placed finish in the Highland League and Bunce believes summer signing Gary Warren will be integral.
The former Inverness Caley Thistle defender made his debut against Huntly on Saturday.
Bunce said: “The goal in the dressing room is to try to improve on last season.
“I thought last season was a good season for us, but there were quite a few games where we went in front and ended up dropping points.
“If we can cut that out like we did at the weekend then I think we can do really well.
“With Gary coming in we were more solid at the back, last season we might have drawn or lost Saturday’s game.
“It’s quite surreal playing with Gary to be honest. Even in his first training session the quality was that bit better, probably because everyone was wanting to impress him.
“Gary will really help our team out and he showed on Saturday he’s still very capable.”