Haddington RFC coach Rhodri Thomas "frustrated" with side's start to the season

The Reds are without a win in National 3 this campaign but did cause an upset when they beat West of Scotland, of the league above, in the BT National League Cup last month.

A 0-38 home thrashing by newly-promoted Murrayfield Wanderers kicked things off, before a 31-10 reverse at the hands of Highland a week ago.

And Saturday saw the Reds fall to a second promoted team, Gordonians winning 0-16 at Neilson Park.

That means the Reds have the lowest ‘points for’ tally of any team in Scotland’s senior leagues, with just 10 points scored from three games.

The only side with a worse record is East 2 side RDVC, who have yet to score but have only played once this season.

Despite that, head coach Thomas is remaining upbeat. He told Courier Sport: “We are all really frustrated by our poor start to the season.

“We are working hard to improve and we felt we did in the Gordonians game.”

The club have also been hampered with a host of injuries at the start of the season, with a number of regulars missing the trip to Highland.

Connor Munro has been deployed in the forwards and backs already this term while on Saturday injuries forced Thomas to field Jamie Paterson, usually a scrum-half, on the wing – he went off early with a shoulder injury.

Thomas admitted his side were “struggling with injuries” which he said “isn’t ideal” but added: “We hope this will improve in the next few weeks.”

The Welshman, now in his third season in charge at Neilson Park, hoped his side’s fortunes would change soon.

Thomas, a teacher when he’s not in the Neilson Park coaches box, added: “We still have confidence in our ability to compete with all teams in the league and need a win to get us going.”

And he hoped his side would record their first win of the season this weekend, but acknowledged it would be a difficult ask.

“We’re aiming to bounce back with a win in a tough fixture at Newton Stewart, who are unbeaten this season, on Saturday,” he said.