Dalziel RFC secure welcome bonus point without kicking a ball

Mar 16 2011 by Andrew Weston, Wishaw Press

AN eagle-eyed Dalziel rugby player secured the club an extra point last week - without a ball being kicked in anger.

Statto Niall McKenzie noted on the official Scottish Rugby Union website that his club had only been credited with nine bonus points this season when they should have been awarded 10.

When this was confirmed by the league administrators, Dalziel were given the extra point.

And this saw them leapfrog Haddington into seventh place in Premier Three on points difference.

Club president Khalid Faqir said: “Niall looks at all these things all the time and is into his statistics.

“He noticed last week so we got in touch with the SRU and they added on our extra bonus point.

“It moves us up a place in the table and I guess it’s a safety net from the teams below us, who are trying to stay clear of the relegation zone.

“But we are not in that battle and I think if we win two of our remaining eight games then we will definitely be safe.

“I am not too concerned but thanks to Niall we have a welcome extra point.”

Meanwhile, Dalziel have been left frustrated in the past month with two of their scheduled Premier Three games being called off at the last minute. On Saturday, their game against Morgan Academy was called off just as the Dalziel bus was about to set off for Dundee.

Faqir said: “We only found out the game was called off at the weekend three minutes before we were due to leave.

“Against Haddington recently, it was exactly the same, meaning it was too late to cancel the buses.

“It now causes a problem in terms of when we can play the Morgan Academy game.

“There is only one free Saturday on April 30 but we already have special dispensation from the SRU not to play that day because that is the day of our Youth Festival.

“We will have to approach Morgan and ask to play on a Sunday because heading up to Dundee during the week could be problematic.”

Dalziel have failed to win a game in 2011 and face the daunting prospect of hosting unbeaten Whitecraigs this weekend.

However, the club president is confident Dalziel can cause them problems.

He said: “It’s a game that we will look forward to.

“They were lucky to beat us in the first game at West Lodge back in September but are the only unbeaten team in the league.

“Hamilton are coming to Dalziel Park on April 9 and certainly if we could win those two games it would give us a lot of confidence going into next season.”

He added: “We’ve not been that far off getting results recently but, having not had any injury problems last year, we have certainly had our fair share of problems this year.”