The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
NATIONAL 1
Aberdeen Grammar captain GrantWalker insists it is the spiritamongthe players which kept the club in National 1.
Grammar secured their place in the division with three games to spare courtesy of a 36-26 win against GHA at Rubislaw last weekend and Walker has hailed the commitment of his team-mates.
He said: “The club spirit has been brilliant and that is what has kept us up.
“I don’t see why we can’t push on from here. If we can get a good pre-season behind us there is no reason whywe can’t be a team in the top half of the table. I’ve been with the club 11 years and when I arrived we were a decent Premier 1 side. We trained every night but over the years it has tailed off.
“We’ve tried to reintroduce that work ethic as this season has progressed but it will take a couple of years to get back to where it was and for the club to reap the benefits.”
Grammar travel to second-placed Edinburgh Accies today before facing Dundee HSFPs and JedForest to complete their campaign and Walker hopes his side can end a testing campaign on a high.
He added: “It has been a difficult season for us as we’ve been in a relegation dogfight for most of it so to secure our place in the league with three games to spare is pleasing.
“We’ve given a few of the younger players game time this season but it will be nice for them to have a runout in the last three games without having the pressure on them like they’ve had all season. I’m interested to see how they do now they have the freedom to express themselves.”