West League Update - West 1 - 09 April 2018

This season seems as though it will never end.  The weekends culprit is again the weather where we had the 4th v 3rd place game between East Kilbride v Garnock off due to a waterlogged pitch.  Thankfully it was the only West 1 game that was off, and both Clubs do look to have the 5th May available to reschedule the game, so it shouldn’t have a knock-on effect on others.

West Results - 7th April 2018

In the other games, both Carrick and Glens had bonus point wins (ref cam footage Irvine v Allan Glens), so Carrick remain 7 points ahead of Glens, with Garnock 13 behind top spot, but with the game in hand.  With five games remaining, East Kilbride are 18 points behind Carrick, so they can still catch them, but Carrick would need to lose four of their last five - possible, but not likely.

East Kilbrides chances of winning the title might be very slight, but they could still have a major say in who does pick up the title and the sole promotion spot to National 1, as they have home ties against each of the three other contenders still to come.

This weekend, our four contenders each have home games and we’re going for four home wins, but Glens against Stewartry and East Kilbride against Annan aren’t guaranteed to pick up bonus points.

At the foot of table, there was no change in the relegation standings, though Cambuslang have gained a couple of points from last week as two historic try bonus points have been added in.

Oban are currently in the second relegation spot, five points behind Irvine and 8 behind Cambuslang, but they do have two games in hand on both.

Cambuslang travel to Garnock this weekend which will be a difficult place for them to pick up any points, whilst Irvine host Oban in what is probably West 1 game of the day.  A win for Irvine and they probably move ahead of Cambuslang, whilst also building a bit of breathing space over Oban.  A win for Oban, and it’s squeaky bum time for both Cambuslang and Irvine.

We still need to keep an eye on National 3, as no West Club being relegated to the Regional Leagues will mean it’s only 1 down from West 1 to 2.  But this doesn’t offer much relief at the moment for Cambuslang, Irvine or Oban, as Dalziel lost again at the weekend leaving them at the foot of the table, with only one game remaining, and that’s not scheduled until 5th May.

Now if Dalziel do get relegated, it raises a further issue for the Regional Championship Committee.  At the moment, Oban have seven games still to play, but there's only six Saturdays left.  One of the games that's still to be scheduled is Cambuslangs visit to Glencruiten, which could conceivably be the relegation decider.  

This season, leagues of 12 have caused real scheduling issues, and we're wondering if some sort of restructure will be required for next season.

West 2 Update 

West 3 Update - to follow