Midfielder Kyle Dempsey on captaining his local team
In the second part of our interview with first year professional Kyle Dempsey we spoke first about the responsibility of being handed the captain's armband at such a tender age."Someone told me at the time that I was the youngest player ever to have done it for the club, and I thought I did a good job with it. It was nice to lead the squad on the night and it was even better when we got such a big win."
"It's another part of the learning curve I've been on and it can only be good for me," he continued. "I got a lot of good advice from the senior players when they found out, but basically they told me to go out there and enjoy it. I definitely did that, but I think my family enjoyed it even more than I did.
"It was great to get the armband again for the last game of the season in front of such a big crowd. It's just a shame the second half didn't go our way, even though I thought the first half was some of the best football we'd played all season. I don't know if I'll get it again next season but it's something I would like to do if the gaffer thinks he can show that kind of faith in me."
"Going from playing in the youth team, and scoring goals, to scoring goals out on the Brunton Park pitch has been amazing. The fans have backed me from the start and I really appreciate that. There was a bit of a blip when they thought I wasn't going to sign my contract, but after I signed it they couldn't have been any better with me. I think that's when my game started picking up again.
"When the contract was getting sorted out if did affect my game, so it's nice to be going into next season knowing I can just concentrate on my football. Over the summer I'll just be working hard on getting fit so I can come back and do more of the same, and make sure I've improved the areas I need to work on."
And on the awards he won at the end of season dinner, he said: "When I told my dad how many awards I'd won he had a joke with me, and he told me that was what I would got for learning from him! It was nice to get the awards and I'd like to thank everyone for voting for me, and things like that.
"I've been really motivated since I was a kid," he explained. "I'll never settle for second place so all I'll be thinking about over the summer is coming back and being first at everything I do.
"It's all about being ready for the first game of the season. I've seen the gaffer say he wants me to get to 20 goals, and the only way to do that is to be out on the pitch as much as possible. If I could do that it would be absolutely massive for me."