Hawick Royal Albert hoping home advantage will help them bounce back from 8-0 thumping by table-toppers Syngenta

East of Scotland Football League new boys Syngenta are already being tipped as prospective second division champions despite the current season only being three games old, and Hawick Royal Albert found out why at first hand at the weekend.
Hawick Royal Albert in possession against Syngenta on Saturday (Photo: Scott Louden)Hawick Royal Albert in possession against Syngenta on Saturday (Photo: Scott Louden)
Hawick Royal Albert in possession against Syngenta on Saturday (Photo: Scott Louden)

The Borderers ended up on the wrong end of an 8-0 thumping at Stenhousemuir’s Ochilview Park on Saturday, leaving them at the opposite end of the 18-team table to their hosts and still awaiting their first points of the current campaign.

That defeat wasn’t entirely unexpected, though, according to Albert manager Kenny Aitchison, as it came just three days after Syngenta, promoted from the one-off conference X at the end of last season after scoring 97 goals in 30 games, put seven past Thornton Hibs to make it three wins out of three this term.

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James Finlay got five of Syngenta’s goals, with Kevin Fotheringham, Jason Walton and Jackson Cowan supplying the others.

Syngenta and Hawick Royal Albert vying for possession at Stenhousemuir's Ochilview Park (Photo: Scott Louden)Syngenta and Hawick Royal Albert vying for possession at Stenhousemuir's Ochilview Park (Photo: Scott Louden)
Syngenta and Hawick Royal Albert vying for possession at Stenhousemuir's Ochilview Park (Photo: Scott Louden)

Things aren’t about to get all that much easier for the Royalists either as next up is a visit from Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University, currently fourth in the table, having won both their games so far this season, this coming Saturday at 2.30pm, but Aitchison is hoping his side can make home advantage count.

Looking back over Saturday’s loss, he said. “Syngenta are a good team and I felt we were just pretty rubbish, hence the scoreline.

“We were really bad at defending – that’s the only way to summarise it.

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“Going into the game, we knew Syngenta were a good team and I felt there were two ways to go about it. We could change our shape, sort of park the bus and try to limit the scoreline, but I kind of felt that if we stuck to the way we want to play for the season and took the game to them a little bit more, that would give us more of a long-term benefit in developing the team as opposed to changing our shape or tactics.

Hawick Royal Albert manager Kenny Aitchison watching his side being beaten 8-0 by Syngenta on Saturday (Photo: Scott Louden)Hawick Royal Albert manager Kenny Aitchison watching his side being beaten 8-0 by Syngenta on Saturday (Photo: Scott Louden)
Hawick Royal Albert manager Kenny Aitchison watching his side being beaten 8-0 by Syngenta on Saturday (Photo: Scott Louden)

“We started very well, we pressed them quite high and we had a couple of chances and we were unlucky not to have had a red card shown against them for a last-man foul outside the box.

“We went in at half-time 3-0 down and after about 70 minutes, the guys struggled to maintain the tempo they’d started with and you could see bigger gaps appearing an more mistakes being made and that was purely down to fatigue, I imagine.

“It wasn’t a surprise, the scoreline, in all honesty. I don’t imagine we’ll be the last team they beat by as comfortable a scoreline as they did us on Saturday.

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“It’s only three games we’ve played so far and the teams we’ve played I imagine could end up in the top half of the table.

Hawick Royal Albert's John Shankie shielding the ball during Saturday's game at Syngenta (Photo: Scott Louden)Hawick Royal Albert's John Shankie shielding the ball during Saturday's game at Syngenta (Photo: Scott Louden)
Hawick Royal Albert's John Shankie shielding the ball during Saturday's game at Syngenta (Photo: Scott Louden)

“Ormiston are much improved since last year, Syngenta are obviously a very, very good team and I think they’ll win the league and Stirling University are a very solid team as well.

“Our results so far weren’t unexpected, to be honest, and come Saturday, there’s a chance for us tp prove those three results aren’t going to define our season.”

Looking ahead to the capital students’ visit this coming weekend, Aitchison said: “I know Heriot-Watt very well – I had a wee spell of helping with coaching there – and they’re a very good team.

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“They play good possession football, they’re obviously very well educated and they have a lot of rotations and a lot of principles we’re hoping to aspire to with a bit of time.

Syngenta beating Hawick Royal Albert 8-0 at the weekend (Photo: Scott Louden)Syngenta beating Hawick Royal Albert 8-0 at the weekend (Photo: Scott Louden)
Syngenta beating Hawick Royal Albert 8-0 at the weekend (Photo: Scott Louden)

“Maybe our only saving grace is that they have to come to us, and I think that for a lot of teams, travelling down to Hawick can be a bit of a challenge logistically and trying to get players available, so hopefully, with the advantage of being on home ground and if we display the ability to learn from our mistakes so far, we can put up a good fight to try and get a result.”

Albert have 18 players on their books at the moment but Aitchison, appointed as head coach last month, says he’s still looking to bring in new recruits, if possible.

“I would say we’re still recruiting,” he said.

“We’re still learning about players, what their strengths and weaknesses are, and we’re getting to know a bit more as games go by.

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“Unfortunately, due to the lateness of my appointment, this is still kind of like pre-season. We’re still learning about the guys and making decisions based on not a lot of information in what little preparation time we have.

“We’ve got a very young squad – I’d say the average age is about 22 – so we’re probably one of the youngest in the league.

“There are a lot of things to work on, and there are a couple of positions we’d be looking to strengthen and potentially bring in new players to enhance the squad.

“We also need to get the most out of the players we have and they do have potential.”

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