Callum Kerr

Friday night’s loss to Stirling County wasn’t how the Bulls thought their chances at Sprint Series glory would come to an end, but stagnating at third means they’re out of reach come final weekend. Despite the disappointment they don’t have long to lick their wounds. This Friday they welcome league leaders Watsonians back to Millbrae in what will provide Peter Horne’s men with the perfect opportunity to end their sprint series on a high and show they are every bit as good as the pacemakers.

A win on Friday could actually propel the Bulls into first, however the following weekend’s encounter between Stirling and Watsonians would result in at least one of the sides getting enough points to oust the Bulls.

Looking forwards instead of behind, Peter Horne insists his men must go into this Friday’s match with a fresh mindset: “It is really important to brush it (last week’s loss) to the side. We were obviously devastated… it was tough to take and we thought we’d done enough.

“This week is about finishing on a high and avenging a defeat we had a few weeks ago, as well as send off a few good men – it’ll be the last time a few guys play for this group. It’s important we celebrate what they’ve done for the club”.

Continuing, Horne says: “Watsonians will be travelling to Millbrae with everything to play for, everything to lose… They’ll be desperate to come and win the competition on Friday night. It’s important we front up and make a good representation of ourselves. Even the games we have lost we have worked really hard for each other and we’ve been a little unfortunate”.

Although putting last week’s loss behind them, the Bulls will be eager to identify the areas where they struggled against County in order to address them this Friday. Horne was quick to pinpoint where needs improving: “Our maul defence wasn’t great. It’s normally a strength of ours! That’s an area we will look to tidy up.

“Discipline. Our penalty count quadrupled last week. We weren’t giving the referee (Keith Allan) the right pictures”. Horne also outlined that they’re ready for Watsonians to come with a strong set piece so that’s an area that will be focused on.

The pressure for cup success might be off, but there’s no doubt that the Bulls will be hell-bent on rounding off their sprint series with positives. When the regular season rolls around they’re be defending league champions so this is the perfect opportunity to end with confidence in front of a home crowd. The match kicks-off in Alloway at 19.45 and is broadcast live on FreeSports from 19.30.