We’ve lost count of the number of times the Club leading the West 1 title battle has changed, but this week, due to the Shield final, East Kilbride were the only one of the four contenders on league duty. They had the tricky game against fifth-placed Annan, but they didn’t slip up with a 25-3 bonus point victory. This puts them four points ahead of Garnock(but they have now played a game more), and nine points ahead of Glens and Greenock, who each have two games in hand on EK.
This week each of the four contenders are back in league action. East Kilbride are away at Kilmarnock, who last weekend lost a nail-biting 26-23 contest against Strathendrick in Fintry.
Garnock are hosting Irvine in an Ayrshire derby which follows on from Irvines big 64-5 win at home against Cambuslang – this could be a tricky one for the hosts.
Greenock are away at Annan, whilst Glens are hosting second bottom Cumnock, who also lost a bit of nail-biter against Stewartry, 22-21.
For this week's Predictor, we’re going with wins for each of the title contenders, but we won’t be surprised if either Annan or Irvine put a spanner in the works of the league challengers.
The West 1 title battle is probably one of the closest contests across the country, but we must not forget about what’s going on further down the table.
To date, we’ve been working on the basis that Clubs agreed last season to restructure back to leagues of 10, but having spoken to a few other Club folk, there appears to be some uncertainty around what is to happen.
If it is to be leagues of 10, we’re assuming there will be one up from West 2 and three down from West 1 (though that is open to variation based on Clubs relegated from National 3).
So on that basis, Strathendricks tight win over Kilmarnock at the weekend could be crucial for both Clubs. That result gives Endrick a five-point gap between them in 9th place and Kilmarnock in 10th (the third relegation place). Cumnock's last-minute defeat against Stewartry is equally painful as they now slip to 13 points behind Endrick, though they do have a game in hand. It sounds like their game bounced to and fro, with the result being in the balance right down to the last play of the game, and who knows, on another day could have been much higher scoring.
Cambuslang are a point ahead of Endrick, but they have played more games than the rest of the Clubs, so can’t count themselves as safe from relegation. Their poor away form continued on Saturday with a big defeat at Irvine, so a trip to Stewartry looks to be a tough ask for Cambuslang, however a bonus point win could see them move ahead of their hosts, and potentially drag Stewartry into the relegation fight. We’re going home win though.
We’ve already got EK pencilled in for a win at Kilmarnock, but any bonus points they can pick up will be crucial come the end of the season.
This leaves our final West 1 game for this weekend as Dalziel v Strathendrick.
Dalziel only have seven points from 11 games and are well behind in the relegation battle (20 points behind Endrick), but they do have two games in hand. We’ve seen them in a few games this season, and whilst they have lost each of the league battles, they have competed well for about 60 minutes before losing out.
Perhaps with the Shield final out of the way, they can now concentrate fully on the task in hand - saving themselves from successive relegations. If they win this one, it’s still a long road to travel, but it would be more worrying for Endrick, as it would keep them in the mire.
A win for Enrick and they have a chance to move ahead of both Irvine and Cambuslang. We’re going for the away win.
Media Galleries:
Cumnock v StewartryVideo: Irvine v Cambuslang - 1st half + 2nd half
Refcam: Irvine v Cambuslang
See also:
West 2 UpdateWest 3 Update
West 1 Updates
4th December 201828th November 2018
20th November 2018
13th November 2018
6th November 2018
29th October 2018
23rd October 2018
15th October 2018
9th October 2018
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