East Kilbride Rugby Club boss is 'in it to win it' as he targets league crown

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Franklin Clark insists East Kilbride Rugby Club are in it to win it as they seek glory in West Region One this season.The Torrance House side kick-off their 2024/25 campaign on Saturday away to South Lanarkshire rivals Cambuslang and new head coach Clark wants to see a significant improvement on last season’s disappointing fifth-place finish.Competition for the title will be fierce with Annan, Strathaven, Bishopton, Dalziel, Cumnock, Kilmarnock, Lenzie and Oban making up the 10-team league.Clark admits it is too tough to call who will be the main contenders but says he has every confidence that his side will be up there.He said: “When you are in a league, you are in it to win but as long as we are there or thereabouts for promotion at the end of the season that is good for any team.“It is a really difficult league to get out of, West 1.

There’s a lot of good teams in it and you generally see the teams that go up from West 1 keep going up or do well in the National Leagues.“I think it is quite high quality and I don’t think there will be any runaway winners this season, it will be very competitive.“Ardrossan ran away with the league last season but the previous season to that, they narrowly avoided relegation.“So it is really difficult to judge.

Two or three players in a team can make a massive difference to how a team performs from one season to the next.“I wouldn’t like to predict who is going to win it but I am pretty confident we will be in there for it.”Cambuslang are one of two newly-promoted sides in the division after finishing runners-up to Bishopton in West Two last term, and Clark admits they will be an unknown quantity at Coats Park.He said: “I don’t know what to expect on Saturday.