Watson targeting progress as he embarks on second season

That would entail a top five finish for his side, who got off to a flyer last term but ended up dropping down to sixth spot.

With pre-season now complete, Watson and his squad have their eyes fixed on the season opener on Saturday.

“The players know where we want to go and what we expect from them,” he said.

“We want to improve on last season and go another step forward. That’s our main aim for the season.

“It shows that we have come on and progressed. We’ve added a few good players but we’ve lost a few as well.”

Town pre-season campaign ended on a high note as they travelled to Malahide, where they picked up a credible 2-1 victory, the scoring opened by Michael Ferguson.

“Michael was very impressive on Saturday and he has done very well throughout pre-season,” said Watson.

“Mark Teggart then got our second goal so that was nice to get two midfielders on the score-sheet.

“It was a good day out for the whole club, with the supporters bus coming down. It’s a fantastic set-up down there and we were looked after very well.

“Their pitch was as good as I have seen in many a year. It was perfect, even in the bad weather we had on Saturday.

“We put in a good performance. It was more of a Banbridge Town performance. The three Saturday games we have had, we have played quite well but the Tuesday night games haven’t been as good. That can be a mentality thing sometimes.

“It’s great to go into the season off the back of a good win. It will give us a lot of confidence after putting in a good performance and getting the nice bonus of a good result too.”

After Saturday’s league opener against Portstewart, Town host Newington in the League Cup first round on Tuesday evening (12 August).

Last season’s two meetings between the teams both went the way of the home side with Town picking up a 2-1 victory at Crystal Park in April after Newington had won 2-0 back in October.