Eight BFL regulars have headed north to Nethy Bridge for a mid-season training camp, with shooting, passing and plenty of questionable tactical habits all under the microscope as the campaign enters its next phase.

A select group of players swapped the usual matchday chaos for the Scottish Highlands as Ernie Smith, Blair Gibb, Calum Brown, Calum Henderson, Arianne McCrosson, Neil Stoddart, Andrew “Stoddy” Stoddart and Dylan “The Fish” Masson made the trip north ahead of the next BIBS versus NON BIBS clash.

With the season continuing to gather pace, the camp offered an opportunity for some of the league’s most recognisable names to sharpen their game away from the weekly pressure of the BFL.

For Golden Boot contender Blair Gibb, there may have been an even greater responsibility. Could one of the league’s most prolific goalscorers finally get some decent shooting boots onto the rest of the travelling party?

Then again, the camp may have proved just as educational for Gibb himself.

Calum Brown was surely hoping to introduce the striker to the mysterious art of passing the football, a concept which could revolutionise Gibb’s game if successfully adopted.

Neil Stoddart, meanwhile, faced perhaps the camp’s greatest technical challenge: learning that possession does not always have to end with the ball being launched approximately forty yards downfield at the earliest available opportunity.

Arianne McCrosson arrived with previous international training-camp experience following her spell in France, while Calum Henderson, Ernie Smith, Dylan Masson and Stoddy completed a group containing enough personalities to ensure the trip was unlikely to be entirely focused on tactical diagrams and recovery sessions.

And it did not take long for the football to begin.

As preparations stepped up, a friendly between Light Tops and Dark Tops was arranged over three invigorating 20-minute periods.

Light Tops

N. Stoddart
C. Brown
D. Masson
E. Smith
E. Walker

Dark Tops

B. Gibb
A. Stoddart
C. Henderson
A. McCrosson

The Light Tops eventually ran out 11–8 winners after an entertaining encounter packed with goals, questionable defending and several tactical innovations that are unlikely to appear on an SFA coaching course anytime soon.

Gibb scored the pick of the bunch with a superb finish before, in what can only be described as an emergency balancing measure, he was later banned from scoring any more.

E. Walker also made her debut and marked the occasion with two goals. Neither will be troubling the Puskás Award judges, but the newcomer showed excellent striker’s instinct to arrive in the right areas and convert crosses supplied by Brown.

Ernie Smith’s afternoon was less productive in the air. The winger discovered what appeared to be a complete inability to leave the ground, passing up several opportunities because his feet seemingly remained cemented to the turf whenever the ball travelled above knee height.

Dylan “The Fish” Masson also left Nethy Bridge with an important defensive lesson: close your legs.

The Salmon was nutmegged on several occasions by the increasingly flashy Gibb, whose willingness to attack one-on-one situations caused repeated problems for the Light Tops defence.

Elsewhere, Neil Stoddart and Calum Brown formed an impressive partnership at the back. The pair provided stability defensively while still contributing further forward, combining for several goals and assists during a strong all-round showing.

Andrew Stoddart also made his long-awaited return from injury.

Unfortunately for Stoddy, some pundits were left wondering whether another week on the treatment table might have been preferable. His side fell to defeat, his personal influence was limited, and the growing theory that he may in fact be the BFL’s resident bad-luck charm received another inconvenient piece of supporting evidence.

The match itself may have ended after three periods, but the entertainment did not.

A penalty shootout followed, during which Gibb unveiled a revolutionary new goalkeeping technique. Rather than relying on positioning, reflexes or traditional intimidation, the forward appeared to conclude that the best method of distracting penalty takers was simply to pull his shorts down.

Strange? Certainly.

Effective? Apparently.

Whether the technique will survive any future BFL disciplinary review remains to be seen.

Unfortunately, even Gibb’s unconventional goalkeeping could not overcome the final opponent of the evening.

A full-scale pitch invasion from the local midge population brought proceedings to an abrupt end. With players increasingly covered in bites and irritation, the penalties were abandoned and the first major session of the Nethy Bridge training camp was officially brought to a close.

Away from the training pitch, there has also been movement in the newly restructured **BFA Power Rankings**.

The ranking system has expanded from five tiers to six, introducing a new **Tier 2 — Premier** category between the existing top two levels.

Gary Forbes is the first major beneficiary of the restructure, sliding straight into the new Premier tier following his explosive introduction to BFL football.

There is also good news for Arianne McCrosson and James Knight, with both players earning a one-tier promotion after strong recent performances. Congratulations are therefore in order for two players whose form has clearly caught the eye of the BFA ranking committee.

The news is rather less positive for Dylan Pirrie.

Pirrie has been **conditionally dropped a tier**, with the decision understood to remain under review pending future performances. His recent spell on the touchline, where NON BIBS appeared to improve dramatically once he moved into a managerial role, may not have helped his case.

Commiserations, Dylan.

There are now plenty of questions heading into the next BFL fixture.

Will Gibb return having transformed his teammates into ruthless finishers?

Will Brown finally convince him to pass?

Can Neil resist the temptation to punt one long?

Will Masson remember to keep his legs closed?

Can Stoddy finally escape the bad-luck allegations?

Will Pirrie respond to his ranking setback?

And, perhaps most importantly, will anybody come back a better footballer?

Only time will tell what will bear fruit from the BFL’s Highland retreat.

But after an 11–8 thriller, a debut brace, a temporary goalscoring ban, experimental goalkeeping, a midge invasion and a reshuffle of the league’s power rankings, The Bibs Report can safely confirm that the camp has already delivered on entertainment.