PERHAPS one of the biggest success stories this year has been Strathendrick Rugby Club, from Fintry, just to the north of Glasgow, and their march ever onward and upward.
At the helm, or pulling the trigger - whichever expression you prefer - has been the one and only Dave Barrett, whose three 'B' caps while at West of Scotland were hardly just reward for one of the most mercurial back-division players the city has seen.
A teacher at the High School of Glasgow, Barrett has brought his own peculiar brand of organisational capability to Strathendrick: ''I suppose I do guide them sometimes,'' he says. ''When I was in the No.15 jersey I would stand at the back and shout at them.'' He undersells himself spectacularly with that line as his teachings have made all the difference.
Time moves on, though, and Barrett hints that if a better player were to be found then he would be out of a position. Hardly likely, in my view, as Barrett really is the man who made a difference as his club has lifted itself into a new theatre, the theatre of the national leagues.
''We won the play off and it was surprising that after doing so well it all came down to the last game of the season and a tense match with Ellon in the play-offs,'' says Barrett. ''We had won all of our 20 regional league games, scored 800-odd points in the process, and conceded only 100 and yet it came down to the last game of the season.
''Everyone knows that the whole structure might change again to regional leagues, but it has been a good year for us and the club has waited for a long time to get out of this division. Strathendrick have been a nearly team for years.''
Yes, the national leagues beckon, as do trips to Orkney, which Barrett says will test his side to the limit. Yet, astonishingly, he says that the players from the Fintry club are as good as the ones he played alongside at Burnbrae. ''If you look at the team, there really are some very good players,'' he says. ''Rory Ker and Ewan Mackay are fine players. Ewan will play for the under-21s, then there's Mark Gibson at No.8 and Ker McMillan at wing forward. Our back row has been really excellent this year, and these are just as good as my former team mates at West.''
Expanding on the theme, he cites in evidence a back division which scored at least 50 points in most of the season's games.
''If you look around the backs then I suppose you could say we have players who have all played the game at a level as well,'' says Barrett. ''The best victory was 96-3, and Bruce Duncan at stand off and William Dickie in the centre both played at West, and Ewan Steel also played at Glasgow Accies.
''When we came up against back divisions which had been thrown together the difference showed. The only games where we had a real test were the two against Strathclyde Police home and away. Yet, as I say, it all came down to that last game of the season.''
The task for Scottish rugby now, according to the teacher of tricks, is to find good players from lower down the leagues and lift them up.
''We have good players. We have probably five or six players who could play good rugby at this club,'' he says. ''Every game you play you think that there is someone in the opposition who could really be very good. I suppose the difference is that many players at this level are playing for fun, but people in charge of our rugby should go around these lower clubs and see some of the talent.
''A good player only becomes better if he plays against better players, and I know that there are some of our team members who are saying they might leave. If that's the case then we have to wish them well, and take them back if it all goes wrong.
''For instance, Rory Ker will probably move on and you can't stop in the way of ambition.''
In the meantime, Barrett settles down to the task of teaching the kids at Anniesland the joys of sport, safe in his own mortality.
He missed the play-off match due to a puncture returning from school cricket, and thinks that Strathendrick didn't miss him as they went on to jump to the national leagues by beating Ellon.
I rather suspect that Dave Barrett's role at the club will never be forgotten. For such a tiny place to provide such excellent facilities and such an entertaining team has been remarkable . . . and that, partly, is down to Barrett's teachings.
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