LOSS MEANS WE’LL HAVE HILL TO PAY
KEVIN RUTKIEWICZ and members of his Stirling squad aim to edge closer to one summit today before spending tomorrow scaling another for hungry souls 4000 miles away.
Albion welcome Cowdenbeath with the chance to go second top.
Less than 24 hours later the chairman, boss Rutkiewicz and Forthbank first-team figures will climb Dumyat Hill in a fundraising appeal for their sister club in Gambia.
The Gambinos, based in the village of Mandinari, have been linked with the Binos ever since local Bill Gillespie visited the country in 2009 and are kitted out in their strips.
It’s hoped enough funds are raised to give everyone in the academy one hot meal a day, with the Stirling squad dipping into their pocket while some will head up the hill.
Rutkiewicz joked: “It’s a good chance just to top up the mileage for their GPS pods so if they’re not hitting the distances we can send them up the hill.
“I can maybe hold that as a threat – ‘No win lads, we’ll all be running it!’.
“It’s a small sacrifice, it’s a couple of hours on a Sunday, not a lot to ask.
“If we can raise anything we’re ahead of the game for them.
“We don’t have to reach astronomical amounts, we just have to go out there and if it does raise a wee bit of money, it puts these guys and girls so far ahead of where they’re at. It’s an important cause.”
Albion have only lost to the duo above them.
On those losses to Kelty and Annan, Rutkiewicz said: “Credit to those two teams but we just weren’t at it. We’ve got to find a way the next time to give them a bit of a belt in the mouth and say, ‘This is the real us’.”
Robbie Buchanan believes an 82nd-minute leveller at home to Forfar inspired confidence in the Cowdenbeath camp as the forward and Co ended a run of four defeats.
Off the foot of the table on goal difference, he said: “We’ve got a squad that should be nowhere near the bottom. We should be fighting at least for a play-off spot.
“With all those defeats especially, we’re letting ourselves, supporters and anybody involved at the club down. It was good to get at least a point. I’ve played in the play-offs at the bottom and I know where I’d rather be!”
Visit https://fundly. com/help-the-gambinos to donate.