Lenzies win at Uddingston on Saturday puts them 21 points clear at the top of West 2 as Oban Lorne move into 2nd place following their tight win at Loch Lomond.
Lenzie and Oban have both played 14 games, so have 8 remaining, whilst Uddy have 9 remaining. Both Oban and Uddy will be looking to get to the end of the season unbeaten, picking up bonus points in their remaining games, whilst clinging to the hope that Lenzie lose a few games - the only issue is, Uddy visit Oban this weekend, so that ruins that idea.
With bonus points win between now and the end of the season, the maximum points Uddy could get is 91, and Oban 88. Lenzie would need to lose three games, and not pick up any bonus points in 5 of their last 8 games not to win the league. So far this season, there's only one game where they've not picked up a bonus point.
Fourth placed Strathaven picked up another big win at the weekend (73 nil at Bishopton), which leaves them just a couple of points behind Uddy.
A draw for Clydebank at Millbrae puts them 12 points behind Strathaven, but they do have three games in hand.
Fifth place we'd normally associate with safety from relegation, but with the West Regional Clubs having agreed to move back to leagues of 10 next season, we could see five teams being relegated to West 3 (and what we understand may be a more social form of rugby). So with Clydebank only being 6 points ahead of that possible fifth relegation spot, they've can't yet afford to take anything for granted.
On Saturday, we watched Paisley pick up a narrow 11-8 win at Cumbernauld, in what was a pretty tight encounter where neither team seemed overly keen on taking their chances. Admittedly it was a bit breezy, chilly and damp, but we can see why they're both involved in the relegation battle. Paisley are now only two points behind Clydebank, but they have played a couple more games.
A 44-21 home victory over Wigtownshire makes it two wins in their last two games for Helensburgh, which moves them to within two points of Shire, and they have a game in hand. If there's no West Club down from National 3, then instead of five down, it's probably only four Clubs dropping to West 3, which at this point would keep Helensburgh safe. However, it's not a very secure position to be in, as they themselves are only two points ahead of Bishopton.
Having lost their last six games, Bishopton quickly need to pick up acouple of wins, but they have Lenzie this week, followed by Uddy and then Oban - not a schedule to be looking to pick up a couple of wins in.
In this weekends games, we're going for home wins for both Lenzie and Strathaven, but the rest are bit more awkward.
Oban v Uddy is the West 2 game of the day. With a bus journey in their legs and disappointing results in the past couple of weeks, it will be awkward for Uddy. We'll go with home advantage, but won't be surprised if the visitors take it.
On the fast and firm 3G pitch, Clydebank should have the advantage over Loch Lomond, but they lost to Helensburgh on that same fast and firm pitch a couple of weeks ago. Home win.
Paisley v Helensburgh is a 6th v 8th contest, so a must win for both. Paisley struggled on Saturday to overcome Cumbernauld, whilst Helensburgh have picked up two wins i nthe last two weeks, scoring 75 points, so we're down for an away win in this one.
Like Helensburgh, Millbrae have picked up a couple of decent wins in recent weeks - a win away at Loch Lomond and a draw last week against Clydebank, Wigtownshire meanwhile lost out to Helensburgh last week. It could be close, so we'll go with home advantage.
No comments:
Post a Comment