Nat Coe had to lift the Aberdeen Grammar players after their gut-punch loss against Stirling, but is confident they can get off the mark for the season.
Grammar let a late lead slip against Stirling at Rubislaw, with the visitors scoring two late tries to earn a 25-24 triumph. Grammar also missed a penalty with the last kick of the game which would have snatched victory.
It was almost the perfect performance for co-lead coach Coe, who sees progress being made in pursuit of a first league win of the season.
That quest takes them to the Borders and Melrose this weekend and Coe, in his first campaign coaching alongside Greig Ryan, believes the players will be in the right frame of mind to compete.
“It’s pretty difficult (to pick players up). We said after the game that this is where we’re at. We’d let the game get away from us.
“We made a conscious effort to make Tuesday night (training) as enjoyable as possible; we need boys to keep coming and if they’re not enjoying their games and losing, we need to make sure they’re enjoying training and getting better.
“The game we played on Saturday, compared to where we were against Gala, was poles apart. We were two or three mistakes away from a pretty complete performance. We defended well in the first half but let a silly try in during the second half.
“We attacked well and scored some really nice tries. We were a win away from it being a perfect performance. We’ve got to take loads of positives from that and get on with next week.”
Grammar will be without forwards Scott Renfrew and Ross Cameron this weekend, after both went off early against Stirling with concussions.
“Your best-laid plans quite often change,” added Coe. “We had two significant injuries in the first 10 minutes on Saturday, so we had to adapt and the guys did that well.
“We’re always learning, thinking about the combinations we choose and who we’ve got on the bench because things like that can happen.
“Both guys are OK but will be out for the next couple of weeks, as we follow the return to play protocols. The main thing is they’re recovering well.”
Melrose only have one win to their name themselves in National One, beating Watsonian 40-19 a fortnight ago.
“We expect a strong team and they’ll probably play in a Borders style, try to move the ball quickly,” said Coe. “We need to be sharp on our turnovers.
“They’ve got the 4G pitch down there so them looking to play quickly suits us. We’ll be trying to utilise that speed as well.”
