CLACH boss Iain Polworth reckons his fired-up troops can finally get their 2012 off and running - by clinching their first-ever victory against Inverurie Locos.
The Lilywhites have not played since they hit Fort William for six two days before Christmas, with the latest postponement being Saturday's home Highland League washout cancelling out their home derby date against Nairn County.
Locos joined the HFL in 2001 and, amazingly, they remain unbeaten against the Merkinchers - and boss Polworth insists there's never been a better time to score that first win against the Harlaw Parkers.
Polworth explained: "The winter has been pretty much non-existent for us, which is very frustrating. Our last game was the December 23 win against Fort William, but our previous game was November 5. Players don't find it easy. When you train throughout the week and then the match is called off and it means a third training session.
"Players want to play games and it's hard to keep training fresh when the players are heating the same voices when all they want to do is play the games, so fingers crossed Saturday's game will go ahead.
"Our boys are eager to get the year going and this is a cracking game for us. We're desperate to get the monkey off our backs, to finally beat them. We've come close a few times to beat Locos, we've hit the bar or the post, but this is a chance for us to try and get that win there at long last."
Meanwhile, Mark Kennedy has been sidelined with ankle ligament damage for around for weeks, defender Neil MacDonald is expected to miss the rest of the season after returning to offshore work, while his namesake midfielder is also out this weekend through work. Michael Finnis and Iain Penwright are also unavailable for Clach for the trip to Inverurie.
While Clach's game was called off at the weekend, Caley Thistle's team of volunteers, staff and young players all helped get the covers off the pitch for their Clydesdale Bank SPL game against Hearts, which they won 1-0 at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium.
Polworth said: "The rain was very heavy on Saturday morning and there's no way we could have got our game on, which I know was also a big disappointment to Nairn as well as ourselves. Nairn have been flying near the top of the table and it's one we were looking forward to.
"All credit to those who helped at Caley Thistle, from the groundsman Tommy Cumming to staff to all the youngsters who helped to get the pitch clear and they were rewarded by their team winning the match."
