Airdrie training session treat for Caldervale High School footballers after trophy double

Caldervale High School won their first football trophy in 13 years with the Lanarkshire Cup - repeating the feat two weeks later.

And the boys were given a major boost when they were invited to train with local side Airdrieonians at New Broomfield.

The Airdrie school’s under-15s beat St Andrew’s and St Bride’s of East Kilbride 2-0 in the final at Wishaw’s Beltane Park on May 13. And their under-14s triumphed with a 3-0 win over Rutherglen’s Stonelaw High.

Physics teacher and CHS football coach Robbie McLean said: “It has been a while since we won a football trophy, and both second and third year have done exceptionally well this year.

“They work really hard, and it has gone well for us, so we’re really pleased. The Lanarkshire Cup features 32 teams from across Lanarkshire, and our boys came out on top this year, with goals from Connor Hay and Liam Traynor for the under-15s.

“The boys have been building towards this for a long time, the third-years were desperate to win something this time, because they’ve missed out on penalties on a couple of occasions, so they’re absolutely delighted to have won this one. They’ve been pushing for it, and they really do deserve it.

"The 3-0 game was tighter than it sounds, with a couple of late goals, but they were the better team on the day. They really showed what they were capable of, and that was while missing a couple of players as well.”

Mr McLean says help from Rhys McCabe and co at Airdrie has been a big help for the boys. He said: “I’ve had them since first-year, and it has been quite good for them. We’ve had a bit of buy-in from Airdrieonians, we’ve had boys down at the stadium for a wee bit of training with some of the first team, and they’ve been absolutely excellent with