Vital few weeks ahead in Ormiston's bid for mid-table

Richie Weir’s men have endured a number of seasons battling at the bottom of the East of Scotland Football League (EoSFL).

They currently sit 12th in the 15-team First Division Conference A and the manager has challenged his squad to record a memorable finish.

He said: “We are hoping to try to finish mid-table.

“That was the target we set ourselves.

“We know we are not going to be challenging at the top until we get a good run going but we are trying to be the best of those near the bottom.

“There are a few teams round about us and we think we are capable of jumping over them.

“St Andrews United are down there struggling this year.

“We are just trying to pick up as many points against those teams and the odd draw against the others.

“We played Leith [who are top of the league and won 2-0] at home and I thought it was one of our best performances.

“They got a bit of a fright and we can do it.”

Ormiston (in black and white), pictured against Peebles Rovers, are getting ready for an important spell of the season

Already, Ormiston have played the top seven teams this season, including the unbeaten league-leading duo of Leith Athletic and Haddington Athletic.

In contrast, four of their next five games are against Arniston Rangers, Tweedmouth Rangers or St Andrews United – who all sit around them in the lower reaches of the table.

One matter that Weir (pictured) and his team will have to address to achieve their target is the lack of goals scored.

Ormiston are one of only two clubs out of the 59 in the EoSFL not to have reached double figures for goals scored in the league this campaign.

Four strikes – with each of those goals coming in wins over Dalkeith Thistle and Thornton Hibs – highlight the problem facing the team.

Weir said: “We have only scored four goals in the league this season and that is with two wins.

“It is something we are trying to work on but everybody is trying to find a guy to score week in, week out.

“It’s proven hard but we are working on it with different formations to get guys into areas so we are not relying on a centre forward.

“We are working hard but once we get a couple of goals I feel we can go on and score a few.”

Ormiston (in black and white), pictured against Peebles Rovers, are getting ready for an important spell of the season

On Saturday, Ormiston picked up their first point since July with a 0-0 draw with bottom-of-the-table Craigroyston.

Weir’s team played much of the second half with 10 men after Reece Cochrane was shown a red card.

The manager, who was busy putting artificial turf down in the dugouts at New Recreation Park when he spoke to Courier Sport, felt his team could have taken all three points, even with the man disadvantage.

He said: “I’m glad we did not get beat but disappointed not to win just because, while we did not dominate the game, we had the better chances.

“Even after going down to 10 men, I thought we were the better team.

“We could have had a few goals but their goalkeeper had a couple of outstanding saves.

“I cannot fault the guys’ effort in the second half.”