Coach praises fitness
Allan Steel hailed his East Kilbride players for staying in shape over the festive period after their fitness told against Dalziel.
The Torrance House side had Jonno Ford sin binned for a high tackle seconds after he came on as a first half substitute, but they still managed to grab two tries in that period before romping to a 73-27 victory over the league’s bottom side.
And Steel, whose side are nine points clear at the top of West Region One, said:“It’s always a difficult game coming back after Christmas when people have been stuffing their faces.
“I spoke to the guys before Christmas about the importance of keeping our fitness up and they have been great over the festive period, attending a few training nights to stay in shape.
“And that was key to Saturday’s performance.
“Jonno Ford got sin binned after coming on for a high tackle, so it wasn’t one of my best moves.
“Dalziel took advantage of that and got a score, but even with a player sin binned we still scored two tries in that period, so I have to give credit to the players for digging in.
“After we got back to 15 players, we got back in control and in the second half we added another four or five tries and played some great attacking rugby.
“Losing four tries is disappointing, but I can’t be too critical when we’ve scored over 70 points.
“To go out and get the bonus point and 11 tries is about all you can ask for.”
EK face a much sterner test on Saturday, though, as they travel to title rivals Garnock, who have played two games fewer.
Steel is aware his side must be better at the back as they prepare to take on the meanest team in the league.
He added: “They have conceded the fewest points in the league, so they will be a lot better defensively.
“There’s nothing really between the teams on paper. It will be about who performs best on the day.
“Out of the top four, it’s going to be all about who can go the longest undefeated.
“But all we can do is focus on ourselves.
“We know if we go to Garnock and win we’ll open up an even bigger gap at the top that gives us a bit of room.
“We’ll need to improve defensively and take our attacking game to Garnock, but there’s still a long way to go whatever happens.”