West 1 Results - 10th December 2016

In the space of two weeks, East Kilbride have gone from being unbeaten and 6 points clear at the top of West 1, to now having lost two on the trot after going down 13 - 8 away at Garnock at the weekend. This means they now find themselves a point behind Newton Stewart in 2nd place who scraped an 8-6 win at Annan - all very tasty.

But it doesn’t stop there, Carricks' 39 -13 win against Glens means they’re now only three off top spot, having been 9 behind a couple of weeks ago.  

This weekends fixtures will be interesting - Newton Stewart have a home game against 2nd bottom Oban, so they’ll be looking for a bonus point win.  Carrick & EK though both have away games - EK at Annan, who ran Newton Stewart close last weekend, and Carrick at Irvine, who with their recent investments, have won their last two games (though admittedly against fellow league strugglers).

At the foot of the table, Irvine had a comfortable win against bottom of the table Helensburgh, whilst Kilmarnock failed to send a team to Oban - this means both Kilmarnock and Oban have one unfulfilled fixture against their names this season.

Irvine are now 12 points clear of the one guaranteed relegation place, which is probably them safe (considering Helensburgh have two unfulfilled fixtures), whilst Oban are six clear but with a game in hand.

It’s a tough ask for Oban to get anything away at Newton Stewart, whilst Kilmarnock host Helensburgh - an enormous game for both of them.

The unknown in the relegation battle is how many will come down from National 3.  Currently Greenock are in the drop zone, so only the one down at the moment to West 1, but with Dalziel fourth bottom, we need to keep an eye on things in as there’s the potential for a 2nd team down to West 1, which will mean 9th place will also be relegated.

We’ve already gone for a Newton Stewart home win, but the rest is a bit more difficult.  We’re going for Annan to win against East Kilbride - they ran Newton Stewart close last weekend and also beat Carrick when they met in November.  Carrick should win against Irvine, but we’re not that clear about how the external investment is impacting on the Irvine team.

The final two games will also be close, so home advantage could be crucial, as a result we’re going for Glens and Kilmarnock. 

December 10th Results:
West 1
West 2
West 3
West 4