RHU Amateurs boss Stewart Maule has hailed his squad’s attitude as they continue to battle through injuries, work commitments and Covid isolation.
The club’s Caledonian League side progressed to the second round of the West of Scotland Amateur Cup on Saturday thanks to an 8-3 win over East Kilbride Harp.
Doubles from Shaun Wallace and Brooks Tadlock, alongside four from substitute Jamie Paterson, secured a comfortable win for the DCF Park side – and despite the result, Maule admits he was gutted for Tadlock as he was denied a hat-trick.
Speaking to the Advertiser, he said: “It was a good result in the cup, and one the squad deserved, because they dug deep and proved their quality over the 90 minutes.
“We’ve had to do a lot of chopping and changing to the match day squad and management team recently, and everyone that has played and managed has shown great desire, resilience and character to ensure we keep getting positive results.
“This era of amateur football is incredibly challenging for the people that run teams, because of players’ lifestyles and work commitments, so you need to have a huge squad of players to choose from.
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“You had to feel for Brooks Tadlock. In the recent games that he has played he has done everything right except score and on Saturday you could see that he was beginning to get his sharpness back and scored two great goals in the first 20 minutes.
“Unfortunately while running through on goal trying for his hat trick he pulled his hamstring and had to be substituted.
“This is where our depth in squad came into play because Jamie Paterson grabbed his opportunity, came on and scored four goals.”
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RHU’S Greater Glasgow Premier AFL squad weren’t in action on Saturday, and with clubs able to opt whether or not to play over the forthcoming September holiday weekend, Maule and fellow coach Sam Gemmell have decided to give both teams the weekend off as they look to get players back to fitness.
Maule explained: “Due to our mounting list of injuries, and players going away for breaks, both teams have opted for a free week this coming September weekend, so we haven’t heard who our next game is against yet.
“The one thing you can guarantee is that whoever it is against, wherever it is, and whatever the result is, the guys that will be playing will never let us down with their work rate and commitment.”
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