Several reports at last year’s AGM outlined how the 2005/2006 season could be described as
“A Season of two Halves.” The 2006/20007 season also fits into this category; however the reverse is true in that our earlier period proved to be more successful than the later half. The competitive games started in early September and by the end of the month we had recorded 4 wins out of 4 with victories over Carrick, McLaren, Hughenden and Strathaven. The victory over McLaren was particularly merit worthy in that it was our first victory over this bogey team for many a long year, and scoring four tries in the process made this particularly sweet. The return of David Armour at this point in the season was very beneficial and his contribution within the pack alongside Captain Fraser helped to inspire a strong competitive presence.
Unfortunately the second half of our earlier pool games proved to be less effective with losses away to Wigton and McLaren and a narrow defeat at home to Carrick when victory was within our grasp. However victories against Hughenden and Strathaven confirmed us in third place and promotion to the top group for the second half of the season.
The game against Strathaven was in mid November and our next game was in early January, such was the effect of the weather in late November and December. This break completely destroyed our momentum and it was almost as if several people forgot how to play the game. When we did return to action it was clear that we were in a much more difficult section with the Police, Moffat and Shawlands proving to be strong opposition, and the fact that they all wound up as the top three teams in the league bears this out.
Coinciding with this second part of the season was the loss of several regular players through either injury or unavailability. This is probably the longest list of unavailable players I have seen in many a long year and did not help us with regard to either continuity or in some cases actually getting a team on the pitch. Unfortunately for the first time in many a long year we had to cancel a league game against Moffat because we could not field a team. This was embarrassing for the club.
There were long term availabilities to David Armour, Ian Gardiner, Cliff Law, Tony
Ham, Sam Cook, Molesy, Owen Borthwick, Ian Ferguson and Dave Major. Coupled with this we had the long term illness of our coach Rory Scott which also contributed to a disjointed late season.
Whilst this number of players being unavailable did not help, the players who remained consistently on the team must be commended for the effort they put in and it is fair to say that whilst no further victories were recorded we were competitive in every game that we played and on occasions came close to victory.
It is always good to recruit new players and the contribution of Cliff Law, Doug Green, Mark Luty and Kenny McLeod was very noticeable as players who have joined the Club and contributed greatly during both training sessions and in games. There were many great performances during the season however I would particularly point out the early season efforts of David Armour and the entire season’s efforts by Captain Fraser Campbell who led from start to finish setting an example of full commitment. (He was even spotted training regularly; such was the enthusiasm of our leader). Alex Fraser set about his business in his usual quiet but very effective way showing him to be one of the most immense tacklers the club has ever seen. Our Northern Irish duo of Derek McCombe and Gareth Henry both have great ability to play rugby at a high level, and we must retain players of this quality and build the team around both them and the other regular stalwarts who contribute to the club. I include in this category our regular and still very competent individuals such as Kevin Stevenson, Jonny Harris, Dave Gardner, Andy Hardie, Rory Kennedy, Boots, JP, Campbell Brown, Owen Borthwick, Roddy McLeod, OD and the evergreen Wallace Muir.
I would love to include Matt Stear in this list however he will be leaving us to take up a new posting down south. Our best wishes go to him for the future, and our thanks for his commitment to the club during his time in Glasgow. Best wishes also to Davy Armour in his new career as a pilot.
Finally, I would like compliment young Andy Mair who changed position to full back this year and latterly to centre, and after perhaps a quiet mid season showed at the start and at the end of the season what an exciting player he is, and what an asset to the club he will also be in the future. More young gazelles like him are on our shopping list. (Incidentally he is also good value on long away trips with updates on his social life).
I mentioned earlier on that we struggled some weeks to get teams out and on two of these occasions Birkmyre would not have fielded a first XV had it not been for the presence of several young men from Greenock Under 18’s who bolstered our numbers this year. This enthusiastic bunch of guys showed that our connection with Greenock is now vital to our long term development and their passion for the game rubbed off on to many of our regular players. It is important that we try to remain self sufficient as Birkmyre but there is absolutely no doubt in my mind now that we need the support of the larger club at Greenock, and if this is only to help us develop the second XV next season, well and good.
I have personally paid a bit of lip service to this Willie Carruth driven arrangement over the past year or two, however I am now fully committed to encouraging the link. It can only be good for us at both senior and mini level, helping both clubs to share players and allow for matches to be played whereas they would otherwise not have taken place due to a lack of numbers.
The connection with Greenock has also helped us to recruit our new coach John Black, and John’s presence at the end of the year showed that he has a love for the game and a clear knowledge of how it should be played. The players have so far been impressed with John’s approach and we look forward to a fresh start with him next season. It is important that this support comes from both players and non players, and I am certain that the more people who can help out in various ways, the more chance we have of developing the club.
With John’s appointment we see the retirement after 5 years of Coach Rory Scott. Rory served the Club for 5 years giving his own personal brand of commitment and passion to both the game and to the Club. Rory lives on the far side of Glasgow and he continued to travel to Birkmyre on at least 2 occasions every week without any recompense, such was his commitment. The Club should be grateful to Rory for the time that he has given them and there is no doubt that several players have been able to develop their own skills through Rory’s influence. We wish Rory all the best for the future, and hope that he will stay in touch with the club.
As I said earlier, next year is a new start; we have a new coach, and a new enthusiasm. I look forward to our next campaign and to success for Birkmyre.
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