Gordonians are sitting pretty at the top of National 3 at the halfway point of their season but captain Chris McIlroy insists his club is exactly where he expected them to be.
A blemish-free 11 wins from 11 games, as well as nine bonus points, emphasises the consistency the Aberdeen side have shown so far this season.
The numbers do not lie. A massive 533 points scored and just 149 conceded makes for hugely impressive viewing for head coach Jim Greenwood and his players.
McIlroy, however, is not surprised.
He said: “Hand on heart I was fully expecting this. I know it sounds a little cocky but we were very unlucky to be relegated last season.
“We should have stayed up in National 2 and were competing. We beat the eventual champions of National 2 and went down.
“Coming down we didn’t lose too many players and we managed to add some players.
“Our pre-season showed we were really up for this and we’re very proud to have beaten every team in the league.
“The job is only half done though and we’ll be focused just as hard on the second half of the season.”
Focus on maintaining momentum in 2023
The GoGos came out on top in their last outing before the winter break, ending West of Scotland’s unbeaten record with a 26-24 victory.
McIlroy is frustrated two postponements before the break denied his side the chance to build on their excellent victory but is confident he and his team-mates can carry on where they left off at Allan Glen’s on January 7.
He said: “We’ve beaten all 11 teams and we’re very happy with that.
“In our last game at West of Scotland we controlled the game very well and were ahead the whole game so it was very pleasing to reach the halfway point having beaten all the other teams in the league.
“We were pretty gutted not to follow that up at Howe of Fife as we wanted to go into the break having ticked that away game off as well but unfortunately it has been rescheduled for April.
“Then there was the home game against Greenock too.
“I can’t actually recall, even when I was at school, a game being called off at Countesswells due to snow or ice on the pitch but there you go.
“We’re looking good but we know we have Allan Glen’s early in the New Year so that will be a big target game for us.”
Favourites’ tag no problem for league leaders
As the only unbeaten side remaining in the division Gordonians are the team everyone wants to beat.
McIlroy, however, insists they are comfortable having that tag as the focus switches to carrying their first-half form into the second half of the campaign.
He said: “We became the scalp for everyone within the first four or five weeks.
“We’ve had that target all season due to us being a team which came down from a level above so we’re used to it.
“Every team we’ve played they’ve said they have regarded their game against us as their key fixture and the same will happen again in the second half of the season.”
Conversation