Hawick Royal Albert targeting 15-point haul to escape relegation zone

Albert had been hoping to pick up three points at home to 12th-placed Edinburgh United at the weekend but were instead left empty-handed and eight points from safety after losing 4-1.

They’ve still got 27 points left to play for, however, and Aitchison reckons 15 would be enough to keep them up.

First up for the Royalists, currently on 11 points from 23 fixtures, in their nine-game run-in to the end of the season is a trip to West Lothian to take on table-topping Whitburn Juniors this coming Saturday, with kick-off at 2.30pm, and that’s followed by a visit from fifth-placed Arniston Rangers next Wednesday, with kick-off at 7.30pm.

Harry Fowler put Hawick ahead at Albert Park on Saturday with half an hour played, but their visitors from the capital hit back via Craig Ferrier from the penalty spot on 39 minutes, Calum Henderson on 70 and a trialist on 62 and a minute into stoppage time.

Both sides had players sent off within a minute of each other, captain Andy Common for the hosts on 61 minutes, moments after the visitors’ Ben Wardlaw was given his marching orders.

Aitchison says he was disappointed not to have notched up back-to-back wins following Albert’s 2-0 victory against Peebles Rovers the preceding Wednesday, telling us: “Edinburgh were on 19 points at kick-off and we’d just gone up to 11, so we felt that had we won that game, it would have put them back in the relegation mix and made it easier for us to catch them, but obviously it didn’t go as we wanted.

“It was probably one of the most frustrating games we’ve played in a long time. We started really well and went 1-0 up and they never really had any chances against us, but six minutes from half-time a really soft penalty was given against us and they got another quarter of an hour into the second half.”

Looking ahead to Albert’s trip to Whitburn, Aitchison added: “I don’t mind at all. There’s no pressure on us.

“Whitburn are a good side but we have proved in the past that we can upset the odds.

“They’ll maybe look at Saturday’s 4-1 scoreline and think it must have been really one-sided and possibly underestimate us.

“We’re going to go up there and try to make up for our last loss.

“We’ve got Whitburn next and then Arniston and they’re two games we don’t really have a chance of winning, going by the odds, but we’d fancy ourselves to pick up points if we can get to the levels we’re capable of, so you never know.

“As of Saturday gone, there were ten games to go and quite a lot of them looked winnable, as in the teams we play are in the bottom half of the league. We’ve still got Ormiston Primrose and Lochgelly Albert, both in relegation spots, and Craigroyston, just above them, and Edinburgh South.

“Ahead of Saturday, we thought 15 points were achievable and I think if we can get 15, we’ve got a massive chance of staying in the league, but now there are only 12 left of the ones I thought we’d get, so we need to try to get the other three points somewhere else to compensate for that.

“Our form’s been okay actually of late. If we’d had our recent form thoughout the seasonn, we’d be mid-table, so I’m hoping we can put together a good run between now and the end of the season.

“If we don’t stay up, the challenge would be to take our form at the minute into the start of the next season, but if we achieve the unlikely and stay up, we’d try and keep that form up.

“It is pleasing that there are improvements there.

“When a team are developing, it’s not going to be a switch from losing every week to winning every week. You’re going to have setbacks. A lot of people just give up when they have one or two setbacks and we’ve had a lot this season, but to achieve success, you need to keep going and persevering.

“We’ve had a little taste of winning games recently and the guys felt amazing and the atmosphere was fantastic at the club, so we’re pushing for that again, hopefully starting this Saturday.”