Aberdeenshire coach Alex Duncan wants to see his players force their way back into promotion contention in National 2 in 2017.
Shire’s 34-27 home defeat by Cartha Queen’s Park before the festive break leaves the club in fifth place in the league and with work to do. But Duncan is optimistic his players can bounce back strongly, starting with tomorrow’s trip to Biggar.
He said: “We’ve got nine games remaining in the season and five are at home. We will have home advantage against most of the teams above us in the second half of the season and we know what we have to do.
“We want to build momentum in 2017 but this is a tough start for us. We’re facing a strong team and have the added issue of having to travel and play our first game in three weeks. It is important we approach this one properly as Biggar are a good side.
“We have a couple of players returning but a couple unavailable, too, as they are sitting student exams on Saturday. We hope Jack Hall will return at scrum half. He has only played a couple of games this season but he is a pretty good player and his presence will give us a reasonable team. Andrew Cook is also available.”
Shire have impressed with their attacking play, with their 513 points scored so far the highest in the division. But Duncan knows there is still room for improvement.
He added: “My teams have always been good scorers and I’m proud of the fact my sides have tried to play attacking rugby in the past. We’ve topped the scoring rate in the division so far this season but the problem has come for us when we’ve faced teams with more firepower.
“A team like Kelso, for example, have a stronger pack and when we face a side that has a good driving maul we have problems but it is something we are working on.
“It’s simple, really. We want to continue our attacking play, which we see as a trump card, and try to keep the opposition from our try line.”
