New manager Andy Thompson cools hype around high-flying Bryansburn

Division 1B frontrunners have won last six league games on bounce

Andy Thompson (left) with Stewart Morrison

Mark Ballantine returned to Bryansburn over the summer

Bryansburn Rangers 2022/23

Andrew Thompson admits he’s having to “keep a lid” on expectations at table-topping Bryansburn – with the place buzzing following a brilliant start to the season.

Coming up to 12 weeks into the new campaign and the Ballywooley outfit are sitting pretty at the summit of Division 1B with 20 points from a possible 24.

And virtually all of that heavy lifting has been done over September and October, with Thompson’s men on a six-game winning streak in the league, the last three of those coming with emphatic 7-1, 7-2 and 7-1 scorelines.

There was little hint of this kind of free-scoring form at the beginning of the new season, however, with Bryansburn losing four from their opening six, albeit three of those coming in the knockout competitions.

As is often the case in the Amateur League, Thompson was down to the bare bones squad-wise in August, and is happy to admit he’d rather sacrifice cup runs than league points.

But as he surveys what might lie ahead, he concedes strength-in-depth, or a lack thereof, remains a concern.

With that in mind, and considering where they have been as a club over the last few years, chopping and changing managers as they battled to an 10th-place finish in 2021/22, and then to 11th last season, he’s keen to keep it realistic.

Progress is being made, but that doesn’t mean all of a sudden they are contenders.

"We’ve been able to get a settled side out in the league,” Thompson told the Belfast Telegraph.

"We lost a lot of players for the cup games but once they came back, the squad started to settle again and