Aberdeen Grammar centre Greig Ryan hopes lessons have been learned as his side bids to get back to winning ways at home to National 1 leaders Edinburgh Accies tomorrow.
Grammar’s return from a five-week winter break was an unhappy one as they suffered a 14-12 defeat at Kelso last Saturday.
Ryan is frustrated at losing and knows Grammar must bounce back at Rubislaw.
He said: “Having five weeks off left us a little rusty and it showed last weekend.
“We let them dictate how we were playing and they were that little bit sharper than us.
“They played a few games in the Border league and managed to arrange a friendly during the festive break.
“It showed in terms of their match fitness and ours.
“Once we got going we were firmly in the game and we just ran out of time at the end. We went close to winning it but we managed to get a point out of the game, so it wasn’t a total waste.
“However, the lesson was there for us as we now prepare for a huge test against Edinburgh Accies.”
Beating Accies will be easier said than done.
The league leaders are five points clear at the top of the division after boasting a 100% record so far.
Ryan expects his side’s opponents to go on and win promotion to the Premiership but believes his team is capable of dishing out what would be Accies’ first league defeat of the season so far. He added: “It’s looking like Accies are going to win the league.
“They’ve been the form team all season and they’ve got some cracking players. They’ve won all 12 games and been the best side in the league.
“We have to start the game better than we did on Saturday but we know this is game Accies won’t be looking forward to.
“This game is the longest trip they’ll make this season and it can be a shock if you are not used to it. Most of their away games are an hour away. We haven’t played at home since November and we felt as if we laid down a marker for how we want to play at home in our last game at Rubislaw against Dundee.
“We set ourselves the challenge ending the season unbeaten at home and this will be our biggest test in trying to achieve that.”