East Kilbride Rugby Club coach Allan Steel says his side put down a marker in Tennent’s West League 1 with a 40-15 win over Annan.
Steel has now set his sights on Garnock, who are a place and six points above them in the table, but says returning players have given the club a major boost.
Saturday’s win put East Kilbride 10 points clear of their opponents, and Steel says their penultimate match of the year was their toughest recent test.
He said: “I would say that was our biggest challenge in the last few weeks – Annan were level with us in the table, so it was important we got the win to open up the wee gap between us two there.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game, but I thought our guys were excellent.
“We knew Annan were a team that competes well, they’re always a good side, so we knew what we had to do.
“It was a wee marker for the boys. The last two games were against teams right at the bottom of the table, so we knew this was going to be a wee bit more of a test, so it was good to gauge and see where we’re at.”
Steel added: “That’s four wins in a row, four decent games and scoring a lot of points, so I was delighted.
“In the first half we were totally dominant, with some really strong, powerful, direct running.
“We scored some nice tries, got ourselves the lead, then conceded one just before half-time. At the start of the second half we gave away a few wee penalties and took the pressure off them, let them get their tails up a wee bit, but we regained that 10-15 minutes into the second half.
“We got our dominance back, finished really strong again with another few good scores,.
“We’ve had quite a few guys back from injury that we’ve been missing all season.
“Competition for places, training, everything just goes up a level, and you’re starting to see that in the performances on a Saturday, which is brilliant.”
Steel says it’s good to be looking up the way, but says they’ll just try to win as many games as possible.
He said: “Now we’re going into this weekend against Garnock, who are third in the table, so we’re aiming to get to where they are now, and it’s another massive one for us.
“All we can do is go out, keep winning every game and see where we end up at the end of the year.”
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