Border Telegraph | Sport | Coaches pledge future to Gala

Saturday, 10th May, 2008

Published: Wednesday, 26th March, 2008 10:00

Coaches pledge future to Gala

By Atholl Innes

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Gala players Lawrence Lemmon, Tim MisKelly, Tim Archibald, Andy McLean and Shaun Law celebrate promotion.

Pic by: Alwyn Johnston

THE coaches who took Gala out of Premiership 3 at the first time of asking have pledged their future to the club.

Richie Gray and Gary Parker will be at the helm next season as the Maroons bid to build on the winning formula which has seen the club win promotion.

And a bonus-point victory over Ellon at Netherdale will see the Maroons clinch the title as well.

“We are delighted that the coaches have committed themselves to the club for at least the next three years,” said president Gordon Richardson.

“This alone will give us the commitment to plan for the future.

“There has been a tremendous amount of pressure to gain promotion as another season could have seen us on the slippery slope.

“Now that we are in Premiership 2, I hope that we can get a big turn-out on Saturday to give the players an added boost to win the championship.”

Richardson went on to thank everyone at the club for their ‘unstinting support and commitment’ throughout the season.

Gray said he was delighted to be carrying on the work.

“No team can go forward by changing coaches all the time,” he said.

“Last season changed the mindsets of the players, who had to travel to all the different outposts.

“But this was never a runaway league and we only got promotion with the second last game.

And he called on the supporters to come out this Saturday and make Netherdale ‘an intimidating place.’

“They (the fans) have been tremendous this season and they can be worth so many points to us. The recent games against Hawick and Heriot’s, for example, were like the Netherdale days of old,” he added.

Gray said that Gala were not finished for the season. “We want to make an impact in the Border League and have a ‘real go’ at the sevens.”

Parker, who has in all his time as a coach at Netherdale (1998, 1999 and now 2008) has never failed to deliver success at the club, added: “I think we have moved two steps up the ladder, and we are now moving up a class. We will need to move up a gear.

“But it has been a hard league. We needed 94 points out of 110 just to get promotion, and I am delighted that we made it.”

Saturday will also see prop Alan Johnston take the field for the last time.

Johnston first appeared for the club in 1990 against Boroughmuir and has started no fewer than 226 matches as well as making numerous appearances as a replacement.

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