Dalziel are not up for the cup after forfeiting tie

Feb 18 2009 by Andrew Weston, Wishaw Press

DALZIEL Rugby Club have taken the unprecedented step of forfeiting their scheduled Hydro Electric Cup tie against Kirkcaldy.

After an emergency meeting was held by club officials on Monday evening it was reluctantly decided Dalziel would pull out the competition in order to ease the fixture congestion affecting clubs throughout the country this season.

The Scottish Rugby Union’s championship committee sent an email to member clubs last week asking them to consider “a means of resolving cup fixtures by means other than playing.”

Adverse weather conditions have resulted in a massive backlog of fixtures and Dalziel’s match with Kirkcaldy had already been called off twice this year.

Since December 2 the Motherwell club have only played three games whereas during a normal season they would have played seven or eight in this time.

Former club president Scott Duguid explained: “We looked at everything and it was not an easy decision.

“We had a long meeting and got the players’ views from the club captain.

“Who knows what the weather has in hold for us over the next three or four weeks as well.

“It is so unpredictable.

“We had to go with what was the best decision in the interests of the club.”

He continued: “Generally the players like to test themselves against the best and to that extent they will be disappointed.

“It is always nice to pit your wits against a team from a higher division and measure your own progress.

“But we felt that in this instance the shear logistics of running an amateur club and the limited time to solve these things was also a factor.”

Willie Talbot, honorary president of Dalziel, was a member of the SRU’s championship committee for 20 years.

He admitted to being sympathetic to the committee’s plight.

“You have the purist like me that says the games should be played no matter what, but there has to be a degree of realism.

“If you are running out of Saturdays and weeks then you are not going to be able to fulfil all the fixtures.”

Duguid also added that the league was still a big priority for Dalziel and that the fixture pileup could have a detrimental affect on their chances of securing promotion out of Scottish Hydro Electric National League Division One.

The club’s only two league fixtures that have beaten the weather since early December seem to suggest that rustiness has already affected their chances of promotion (they were defeated by Edinburgh University and Dumfries).

“Our main aim is to finish as high up the league as possible and there is still an outside chance we could go up in second spot,” Duguid said.

“I think you will find that with this fixture backlog quite a lot of clubs will take the route we have chosen.”