Simon Ferry has praised Peterhead’s young players for stepping up to the plate this season.
Back to back victories against Falkirk and Clyde mean the Blue Toon are on the verge of preserving their League One status.
Midfielder and coach Ferry has been impressed with how the younger members of Jim McInally’s squad have contributed.
In Saturday’s 3-0 success against the Bully Wee the 33-year-old was the only player in the starting XI over the age of 30, with eight of the starters 24 or younger.
Ferry said: “I think some of the younger players have really come to the fore this season.
“Previously I thought they could have done more, but this season they’ve really stepped up to the plate.
“Scott Brown (26) has always done well for us but he’s stepped up again and become a leader.
“I wasn’t playing against Falkirk but they didn’t me they can go and control games themselves and they have a great trust in their ability.
“Andy McCarthy (22) has stepped up to the plate and come on a lot this season, even somebody like Steven Boyd (24) as well.
“He was in and out last season, we knew he had ability and now he’s terrorising people.
“We knew these players were more than capable and they’ve really stepped up, I think if we could keep this team together we could have a really good season next season.”
The impact of Ritchie
Another young player who has impressed is Hamish Ritchie.
The 23-year-old midfielder joined on loan from Inverurie Locos in March and has netted four goals, including a brace against Clyde.
Ferry added: “Hamish has been brilliant, not just as a player, but as a guy.
“He’s come in and he’s a lovely boy and with the way he plays you’d think there could be a bit of arrogance about him, but there’s absolutely nothing like that.
“He’s given us a boost and he’s the type of player I like watching and like playing with because he’ll take the ball all the time.
“He’ll take it under pressure and he finds time and space and he continues to do it.
“Even if he makes mistakes he always wants the ball, he’s always on the half turn and he can play with both feet as well.
“Hamish has been a great addition and he’s brought goals from midfield as well.”
Quest for three straight wins
Peterhead face East Fife tomorrow at Bayview looking to make it three wins in succession and move within a point of sixth-placed East Fife.
Ferry said: “It’s not a good position to me because I think we should be higher with the players we’ve got.
“But in terms of the post-split we are in a good position, we go to East Fife now and we want to win to try to get as close to them as we can.
“We don’t just want to be playing to stay in the league, we want to finish as high as we can in the bottom half.
“I’m pleased with how the players have reacted because after the Forfar game and not winning that and ending up in the bottom half it would have been easy for heads to go down and for performances to drop.
“But the performance and results last Tuesday and on Saturday have been great so the boys deserve credit for that.”
