Today's the day

Got you. You thought I was going to talk about the Royal Wedding, didn't you? No, today's the day before the day when Paisley RFC go for broke. Here's how it breaks down. Paisley are at present one point behind McLaren in the league and both have one game to play, Paisley at home to Moffat tomorrow and McLaren away to Strathclyde's finest next Saturday. If Paisley beat Moffat and score four or more tries, we get five points (four for the win plus a bonus win point). If the Police beat McLaren after that, or if they hold McLaren to less than four tries and Paisley's winning margin over Moffat is greater than McLaren's over the Thin Blue Lions (see how I'm building up our Boys in Blue?) to the tune of 17 points or more, we get the trophy. Confused? I hope so. To sum up, Paisley have to put a barrow load of tries past Moffat, and the Police have to have their finest hour for many a year, hopefully buoyed by the unexpected arrival of heavy support from nearby Cotton Town.

Now, at the risk of coming over all emotional, I for one would like to register my immense pride at my very small involvement with PRFC. They have showed this season that they can raise their game to a point where they are almost unrecognisable from this time last year. In 2009-10, they won 3 games and lost 17, averaging a 35-7 loss. This year so far, they've won 10 (hopefully 11) and lost 5, averaging a 19-10 win. Whatever way it turns out in the next week or so, they've made us very proud at the club, and we'll be celebrating after tomorrow's game with a barbecue. The day's festivities begin with a curtain raiser when the Development XV play the Under 18 side, kicking off at 1pm. The main event kicks off at 3pm. If you're around Paisley tomorrow afternoon, we'd love it if you took the time to come and lend support to your local rugby team. The boys will tell you that a good, noisy home crowd makes all the difference, so bring the kids or come alone, but come anyway. You'll be more than welcome.

By the way, it's worth mentioning that, along the way, McLaren have been worthy opponents. They had to pick themselves up from an unexpected defeat by Clydesdale, managing to steal the win at home to Paisley the next week, to keep their league chances alive. They and the other teams in this league have made this season so enjoyable for those of us who no longer trundle out in the mud week after week and have to live vicariously through our team. Mull, whose hospitality is second to none and who have to travel inordinate distances to play. Birkmyre, who until last week could have won this league. Clydesdale, who have pulled off one or tow shock victories. Jordanhill Phoenix, who have made huge improvements just a little too late in the season. Of course, I have a particular fondness for Strathclyde Police. They've been very friendly hosts over the years at their lovely clubhouse, Lochinch, set in the wonderful surroundings of the grounds of Pollok House. Mind you, this has nothing at all to do with the fact that they have the potential to gift Paisley the league title. They've suffered in recent years from police budget cutbacks which have often made several of their players unavailable at any given time, and yet still play the game. I'll be stood with Big Sandy next week cheering them on.

OK, this has been a bit of a ramble, but William and Kate's impending nuptials have allowed me to have a day at home, so I'm not wasting it. If you want to have a gander at some of Paisley's finer moments from this season, click on this link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3S3RMNi_iE

Credit to Gordon 'Power' Powrie for putting this video together.

'Moan the Polis!