The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Grammar must be first spoke in Falkirk wheel NATIONAL 1
Ratcliffe prepared to bring league leaders’ run to grinding halt
Aberdeen Grammar centre Alex Ratcliffe is confident his side can end Falkirk’s perfect start to the season.
The Rubislaw side suffered a dire 36-12 home defeat at the hands of Dundee High on Saturday and face the daunting prospect of a trip to league leaders Falkirk tomorrow.
The Cala Park side have made a flawless start since promotion from the third tier last season with four wins out of four to move top of the table.
But Ratcliffe, who returns to the side after being unavailable for last week’s defeat, is determined to help his side return to winning ways.
The 27-year-old petroleum engineer said: “I spoke to some of the players and they were very disappointed with the Dundee game, not only with the result but also with how they played.
“This will be an interesting one because Falkirk have started off very well with four victories after winning promotion.
“We will be targeting it as a game we can win and, given our recent results, they might underestimate us.
“We want to bounce back. It is still the early stages of the season and we are trying to assess what a realistic target for us should be.
“We are still working out the standard of the league, which teams have strengthened over the summer and which teams are likely to be pushing near the top this year.
“Given how last season went, I think finishing in the top half of the table would be good, but we really want to be in the upper part and a top-four finish is what I am hoping for.”
Aberdeen Grammar head coach Ali O’ Connor is also hopeful for a more positive showing from his players this weekend.
He said: “We won’t play as bad as that again.
“We made way too many handling errors which cost us dearly.
“Dundee scored two tries in the final two minutes of the game which made the score look a little bit worse.
“Want to be in the upper part and a top-four finish is what I am hoping for”
“We were knocking on the door at one point, but didn’t defend or attack well enough so it was a bad day at the office.
“Dundee were deserved winners but we were architects of our own downfall again as that was two weeks running we have made too many errors to be competitive and the players were very disappointed.
“We are playing Falkirk this week, who are top of the league, so we are massive underdogs.
“If we can get back to what we are good at and keep our error count low, I think we are capable of an upset.
“It has been a case of picking the players up as they were hurt by the way they played.
“Rightly so, because they are far better than they showed.
“There is no bigger challenge than facing the league leaders, who are in really good form, away from home.
“It is a chance to win back some pride and points.”