Shire need a win to prevent drop

Mar 27 2009 by Les Stewart, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

SUCH is the farcical situation of the current league structure, torn apart by bad weather and the 6 Nations Championship, Shire will start only their third league match in nine weeks tomorrow when they travel to Hughenden to take on league runners-up Hillhead/Jordanhill.

The Eagles produced one of their best performances of the season against Hillhead in November when they beat them 24-16.

Neither team should lack motivation tomorrow as Hillhead want the win to propel them back into Premier 2 and Shire need at least one more win to ensure they do not drop down into the national leagues.

Ellon, Irvine and Ardrossan lie below the Eagles but if they manage to win all their remaining games and Shire fail to win any of theirs then the unthinkable could well become reality.

A major blow to Shire is that their prolific points scorer James Fleming was injured representing Scottish Universities and will be out for the rest of the season.

Kiwi Wayne Matson has moved to Perth and joined the club but he will be unable to take part in any of the three remaining 1st XV matches although he will be able to use his exceptional playing skills to help ensure that Shire's 2nd XV fight to stay in their league.

Not only must the 2nds win at least one of their remaining three matches to stay up, they cannot afford not to fulfil any of the fixtures either as they will be deducted points and will be certain to go down.

If ever there was a need for the whole Perthshire club to show their fighting spirit at the end of a season, then this is surely it.

All players are required to put in a final effort over the next few weeks to ensure that the club continues its upward journey.

Normally the leagues should be winding up by the end of March but Captain Ali Anderson has been rallying his troops for a final effort as both 1sts and 2nds take on Hillhead, Cartha and Garnock over the next few weeks.

Ali reiterated to his players that victory in all of these games would be enough to propel Shire up into the top section of the league but failure would be disastrous for the club and would not even be contemplated.

Tomorrow's game kicks off at 3pm and both 1sts and 2nds should meet at the clubhouse at noon and the bus will leave at 12.15pm.

There will be room for the regular supporters but anyone who cannot travel in the bus is urged to try and make their way to Glasgow to witness what will be an epic match against two of the most entertaining teams in the league.

Hillhead will have one of the biggest crowds of the season after defeating champions Kirkcaldy last week and it is essential for the Shire faithful to get behind their team.