Aberdeen Grammar cannot afford to get caught up in thinking about relegation, says Donald Kennedy.
For the second season running Grammar are in a battle against the drop, with five games to go in National One.
Grammar are 17 points adrift of safety with a possible 25 left to play for. They are on the road this weekend against one of the two sides they have beaten this season, Stewart’s Melville.
It has been tough going for the Rubislaw outfit this season and if they are going to stage a late escape, the time to make a move would be now.
But for Kennedy and Grammar, there cannot be too much attention on what might happen at the end of the season.
One game at a time
“We’re trying not to get caught up in the bigger picture and all the chat about us potentially going down,” he said.
“We’ll prepare for each game as best we can. It’s the best way to deal with it.
“You’re never going to get over that hurdle if you keep thinking about what’s going to happen if we don’t win.
“It’s an old cliché but it needs to be one game at a time. It’s a frustrating position to be in and while the Stew Mel game might get talked up because it’s the bottom two, we’re just preparing as if it’s a normal game.”
While performances have been promising at times, Grammar have often found it difficult to string together 80-minutes displays to bring home the points.
“We’ve taken a lot of positives, especially the Stirling cup game and a couple of games against Melrose,” added Kennedy.
Rediscovered rugby passion
“A win would do us brilliantly and create a real buzz. But we’ll deal with that when it comes to it.”
Kennedy is in his first season back in rugby since 2020. He grew up in Dumfries and has spent time playing in Gloucester and in Edinburgh for Watsonians and Musselburgh.
He moved up to the north-east for work – he teaches at Mackie Academy in Stonehaven – and has found his enjoyment for rugby again.
“It was quite an easy transition because a lot of my mates that I went to university with ended up getting jobs up here,” said Kennedy.
“You make pals easily playing rugby. It’s a good part of the country and I definitely enjoy it.
“I hadn’t played for a couple of years and potentially wasn’t going to bother coming back to it. A lot of boys I know have decided their rugby career is done.
“But I came down over the summer and played a bit of touch (rugby) and you just fall back in love with the game. It’s so much fun.
“My focus this year has just been to play and enjoy it as much as I can. Performances maybe haven’t gone our way and you can get bogged down in that. But I’m just trying to enjoy it as much as I can.”
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