Mark Shankland has hailed his best season in football — and he wants to do it again.
Auchinleck Talbot bagged a treble last season, including the West Region Premiership, Junior Cup and Sectional Cup.
And they also reached the fifth round of the senior Scottish Cup for the first time, beating local rivals Ayr United 1-0 on the way.
And striker Shankland knows that it won’t be easy staying on top as other teams will be desperate to catch them.
The 24-year-old said: “I’d definitely say it was my best season in football. People are saying it’s the best season Auchinleck have had as a club thanks to the cup run.
“The win against Ayr was huge, and then going to Tynecastle was incredible.
“We weren’t expecting to get anything up there so it was a great day out.
“We then went on to win the league and Junior Cup after winning the Sectional Cup, so it was incredible.
“That just means it’ll be hard to match, if not better, our success from last season.”
He added: “After winning the league and the cup we will probably be asked to do more again which means there is pressure on us.
“We need to try and win them again, but obviously other teams will be strengthening their squads to try and make sure we don’t.
“I would much rather be on top than trying to chase someone.
“But there is pressure there playing with Talbot and always trying to win, but it’s good.
“Teams are spending money to try and knock us off, but hopefully we thrive on that and we have more of the same.
“It’s hard maintaining those levels of consistency to be honest.
“Last season we had a few games spare after winning the league, we could have easily took the foot off the gas, but we made sure that we didn’t drop the standard.
“I think the squad definitely has what it takes to keep these levels up going into the new season.
“I don’t think anyone’s hunger for success has dropped, if anything it has got greater as there is plenty of competition for places in the team.
“It’s good for me to battle for a starting spot because if you’re coming in and you knew you’d be guaranteed to play, I don’t think you’d get the same level of training.
“The fact that everyone knows if the standards aren’t good enough then they will be dropped can only be a good thing.”
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