GHA set to kick off cup campaign

GHA kick off their RBS West regional Cup campaign this weekend as they face fellow Championship League A side Ardrossan Academicals at Braidholm.

The Braidholm side will face three cup games in a row as the league takes a break until December. And they will be hoping to keep up their momentum having taken top spot of the Championship League A table albeit with Cartha having a game in hand. Head Coach Gordon MacPherson believes the Cup gives players in the second team at the club the chance to impress. He said:

“It’s an opportunity to try a few players within our second team at the club without the pressure of the league. It is a good opportunity to try some players in different positions. Experiment a little bit really. I don’t think we will take too many risks because we still want to put in good performances and win the games so the team achieves something out of it. A lot of the guys in the second team will see it as an opportunity to show us what they can do at the highest level of the club.”

Other teams in GHA’s group are RBS Premiership pace setters Ayr and National league side
Hillhead/Jordanhill. And MacPherson feels it is a great chance for the team to see where they are compared to teams who are playing at a higher level. He said:

“There are a couple of strong teams. We play Ayr in our group and Hillhead/Jordanhill who both play at a higher level. It is always good to sort of gauge yourself against better opposition and see how far the team has to go and it is good for the players to play teams in a higher league. They can measure themselves against better opposition and it is a good opportunity for individuals at the club to see where they are at against players at a higher level.”

GHA will look to gain some revenge after losing to Ardrossan 27-14 earlier in the season. And they will feel it is their best chance of victory in their group since Ardrossan are in the same division. However Head Coach Gordon MacPherson believes that the previous meeting between the two teams won’t count for anything this time around. He said:

“We have to stop a couple of their key players. We let them run last time and we will have to work on our individual defence and our team shape which are things we have worked on so hopefully we will see an improvement. They had a couple of individuals which we didn’t really take care of last time around and we will be looking to do that. I am not sure how relevant being a cup game their victory against us in the league will be come Saturday.”