Jim Greenwood knows excellence might be the only way for Gordonians to maintain their push for promotion from National Three.
Gordonians have set high standards for themselves this season, with seven wins from seven and six try-bonus points.
They have rattled in 355 points in those contests and will be chasing an eighth straight win on Saturday when they travel to face winless Greenock Wanderers.
Head coach Greenwood has seen the bar set in their opening fixtures and, if they are to win the league, they must keep striving for perfection.
“You couldn’t ask for a better start to the season and we looked at those eight games at the start as really important,” he said. “When it comes to the end of the season and where we are, in regards to the other top teams, we don’t want to be dropping points.
“We saw last year we had that string of seven or eight games at the start of the season where we didn’t just lose, but we didn’t come away with a losing bonus point.
“Come the end of the season, we were two points off staying in National Two, so it’s important we string those wins together.
“We dropped our first point last week and West (of Scotland) dropped their first point the week prior, so it’s quite tight at the top.”
West of Scotland have matched Gordonians stride for stride so far, also sitting on 34 points with an unbeaten record. They, too, face a winless side in Royal High tomorrow.
“If we have aspirations of promotion, we can’t get complacent,” said Greenwood. “No matter where we go in this league, an away game is going to be a challenge.
“A lot of these clubs know how to take advantage of their home grounds. When we travel to Greenock, it’s irrelevant what their position is – we’re looking to put them under the knife.
“Nothing less than five points is going to see us get promoted. I honestly believe that at the end of the season, it might come down to something like points difference.
“With the restructure – only one going up and six coming down – we can’t afford to slip. There can’t be any banana skins.”
‘Most of the sessions now are player-led’
Greenwood has been proud of the way Gordonians players have taken ownership of their own destiny and set lofty targets for themselves at the start of the season.
“The boys have reacted well to relegation last year and have set some pretty solid goals,” he said. “The first-team have said they want to straight back up and we’ve spoken about what it’s going to take to do that.
“The second team want to consolidate their position in their league. Both teams are both buying into the goals they’ve set, which is really positive.
“The big thing for me is they’re taking ownership of their own responsibilities. Most of the sessions now are player-led – there’s much less involvement from the coaching team, other than minor technical points.
“They’re maturing and gelling as a team. We won 20-15 last weekend and, a year ago, that probably would have been a loss.
“The fact they scraped a win in what was a pretty poor game of rugby, just shows they’re knitting together as a team.”
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