Young St Peter’s striker Taylor Fadian wrote himself into the Paisley club’s history books after becoming the first development player to notch for the senior team.
The talented teenager bagged the Glenburn-based side’s only goal in a disappointing 4-1 defeat away to Harmony Row.
St Peter’s were missing six players for the trip to the Sir Alex Ferguson Park in Glasgow, meaning gaffer Paul McTaggart once again had to call on the club’s development squad’s top talents to see them through the match.
And 17-year-old Fadian took his chance to impress, bringing the club back to 2-1 with a fine finish before they eventually lost out heavily to their Division 4 rivals.
McTaggart told Express Sport: “We were really struggling player-wise once again at the weekend.
“We had two call-offs on the morning of the match and we were already missing four others. It’s so hard to deal with that kind of blow when you’ve already got a fairly tight squad.
“We had four under-20’s in the squad and they were all smashing.
“Taylor scored the first ever senior goal for the club having stepped up from the development team, which is a brilliant bit of history for him and the club.
“He did a lot of unselfish work up front and showed great commitment, as did all of the young lads who stepped in.
“We’ll never be able to spend a fortune on players, so we know we’ll rely on youngsters coming through and doing well.
“All four did their age group proud and I certainly won’t hesitate to call on them again in the future.”
While McTaggart was pleased with his young cohorts performances, he was less than enamoured with the overall performance of his side during their 4-1 Harmony Row defeat.
He insists his side simply have to defend better if they’re to stand any chance of staying at the top end of the division as the season progresses.
He said: “The goals we gave away against Harmony Row were scandalous. They were so, so cheap.
“All four goals shouldn’t have been conceded. They were all so avoidable.
“We simply have to defend better if we’re going to keep challenging and keep up with Finnart and Kilsyth.
“We’ve still got games in hand on all the teams above us, but that won’t mean anything if we defend like that and end up on the losing side.
“I’ve said it before but it’s the consistency of selection that is killing us at the moment.
“I haven’t been able to put the same starting XI on the park all season. That’s through a combination of covid, holidays and work commitments.
“It’s very difficult to prepare and try to build that momentum when you’re having to shuffle the pack every single week.”
Up next for St Peter’s is a difficult clash with Kilsyth Athletic, who are currently ten points ahead of the Paisley side in the Division 4 table.
McTaggart’s side do have two games in hand on their opponents, but know a poor result in North Lanarkshire could put a serious dent in their title hopes.
McTaggart added: “It obviously doesn’t get much easier for us as we’re away to Kilsyth in our next match.
“I said to the boys after the Harmony Row loss that it’s all about how you bounce back from adversity.
“There’s no point in feeling sorry for ourselves because you can be sure that Kilsyth won’t be feeling sorry for us.
“We’ve got to pull together and iron out the defensive mistakes that have been costing us so dearly.
“We need to learn from our defeats and I have to say there’s been a good reaction in training so far this week.
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“The boys were disappointed in themselves but the positive thing is that we’ve still got games in hand on the teams above us.
“That means we’ve still got a good opportunity to put things right and bounce back.”
