Captain will kick team on

David Christie 1563 - 1563 • Last updated 5 Mar 2009 10:20

BURGH captain David Riding is ready to give his team a boot in the right direction as the relegation dogfight hots up.

The Greens will be without regular kicker Chris Black for the tough trip to face Gordonians on Saturday and Riding is happy to take on the kicking duties in his absence.

A recent dip in form has seen Helensburgh slip to ninth in the division - just one spot above the relegation places.

Saturday"s Aberdeen-based opponents currently occupy 10th position, three points behind.

But Riding, who will start at stand-off having recovered from a broken arm, is confident he can rise to the challenge.

'It"s undecided yet who will be kicking,' said Riding, 'but I will be starting at No.10.

'I have not done it for quite a long while, but I am happy to take on the responsibility.

'There are a few people who have indicated they would not mind having a go so we will have a kicking challenge at training tonight (Thursday).

'If someone else turns up and has a 100 per cent success rate then I will give it to them, but otherwise I am ready.'

Riding knows a big win would dramatically improve his side"s chances of survival, opening up a potential eight point gap.

Starting on Saturday, the Greens face a run of three away matches, with runaway leaders Lasswade then Marr looming large on the horizon.

While Gordonians ran out 6-5 winners in the reverse fixture at Ardencaple, the captain believes a win is within their grasp. He added: 'When they beat us, it was a really stop-start match in pretty poor conditions.

'We know what to expect from them and we will look to shift the ball wide as much as possible.

'They will play close ten man rugby so we will try our hardest, weather permitting, to use the ball and get it out to the backs to cause them problems.

'We have not set a points figure, but if we can get two wins out of our next three it would push us out of the mire and into mid-table, while pulling other teams into it too.

'There are plenty of big games elsewhere which can influence how the league shapes up. Still, if we go out and win our games we stay up, it"s as simple as that.'

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This article appeared in Helensburgh Advertiser 05 Mar 09

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