HILLFOOTS director of rugby Rudi Urbach says he is pleased with how his side have performed during the first half of the season as they attempt to bounce back to Caledonian League Division One.

‘Foots were relegated last season but have turned things around this term, and are in contention for promotion at the halfway point.

Urbach told Advertiser Sport: “Coming off the back of a rough 18 months, where the boys struggled in terms of relegations last season, we approached this season with a little bit of care.

“We were mindful that we didn’t want to continue the slide so we worked really hard in pre-season at creating a friendly environment among the senior players, getting a bit of team spirit back and increasing the numbers. 

“We were pleasantly surprised; at the end of last season we were struggling to get eight or nine boys to training, but now we are getting between 20 and 25 at every session.

“In terms of results, we put together a really good run of form. 

“Then we had a really tough game against Grangemouth, who are top of the league.

“It was one of those games where nothing went right. 
“Sometimes you just get games like that, but there was a little bit of disappointment because we had gone six or seven unbeaten before that.

“The boys are back on the horse again though and we had a really good win last week. We are back on form and we are now looking forward to January’s fixtures.”

Urbach also revealed that the club are doing their bit in the local community, participating in a number of events and entering a partnership with a local high school.

He said: “We have had a couple of good social events including Tilly in the Park, our Rugby Force day and our golf day at Tillicoultry which had a really good turnout.

“We have also been getting the boys out to support the partnership between the club and Alva Academy. 

“We want to build from the bottom up again, because there is no point in having a good first team if you don’t have young lads coming through.

“The club is also continuing to drive the community sports hub project which is very exciting.”

Urbach is targeting a top two finish in the league and says his players deserve to be rewarded for their hard work.

He added: “My primary objective is to make sure we fulfil every fixture and up to this point we have got that right.

“I am desperate for the boys to get some sort of reward at the end of the season because they have worked so hard and deserve it.

“We would like to get out of Caley 2 and through Caley 1 as quickly as possible because it is a bit of a gunfight at the moment. 

“I am keen to get up into the national leagues but that will take a bit of time.

“We are definitely aiming for a top two finish this season so we will roll the dice and see what happens.”