Glasgow Accies visit Ramsgreave this Saturday 16-Aug-07

How quickly the season comes around! This Saturday sees our first pre-season friendly with a visit from Glasgow Academicals. The 'Accies' are one of Scotland's oldest and most famous clubs having supplied numerous Scottish internationals over the years.

The club now play at level 5 in the Scottish league pyramid. For those of you not familiar with the league set up North of the Border, the Accies play in National League Division 2. The system has three top leagues called the Premier Leagues before splitting into three more National Leagues. Below this, the competition splits into the four regional divisions each with there own league competitions. Of course the top tier of professional rugby is now down to two professional clubs namely the Glasgow Warriors and the Edinburgh Gunners who compete in the Celtic League.

The Accies have already begun their pre-season fixtures following a tight 24-12 defeat at Whitecraigs last Saturday. This game was split into three thirty minute sections, giving both sides the opportunity to give all players some game time.

In terms of the home sides preparation, selection is affected by a number of absentees. A small number are taking advantage of a trip to Twickenham to watch the Middlesex Sevens whilst around a further half a dozen are unavailable due to work commitments and being on holiday. Chairman of Rugby Gareth Dyer though sees the match as an opportunity to look at the squad he has at his disposal. 'Pre-season games are all part of the build up to the official start of the season. Yes there are quite a few guys absent but that means we can have a look at guys who have trained all summer who perhaps didn't feature regularly in the 1st team last season. I'm particularly keen to have a look at some of the younger members of the squad to see how they handle the step up to what will be a good opposition. It's a measure of how far we have come in the last two seasons that we can do this and I think it's correct to give as many squad members as possible some game time on Saturday. Don't get me wrong, I expect a good level of performance from the lads and them to show me that they are fit and have taken on board the things we have worked on in training so far'.

The game kicks off at 3pm. The referee will be Graham Bancroft who is also using the game as part of his pre-season build up.

This article was posted on 16-Aug-2007, 15:06 by Hugh Barrow.