National 2: Falkirk Rugby Club face early season litmus test as they travel to Berwick

Stef Yarrow in action for Falkirk against Aberdeen Grammar on Saturday afternoon (Pictures by Alan Murray)

The Horne Park club narrowly missed out on promotion last term on the final of the campaign, and Grieve admits that a 33-17 loss to the Berwick-upon-Tweed outfit was the match that cost them dearly.

“That is the hurdle we fell at last year,” he told the Falkirk Herald. “When you look back at the league, that was the result that cost us promotion really.

"We could have had the league won against Preston Lodge before that final showdown but the Berwick loss was the one that stopped that from being able to happen.

Falkirk defeated Aberdeen Grammar on Saturday afternoon (Pictures by Alan Murray)

“We aren’t wanting to make that same mistake twice. The margin for error is very small if you want to get out of this division and we know that.

"Berwick is always a tough trip no matter when you play them.”

Last Saturday saw Falkirk pick up a 62-36 win over Aberdeen Grammar at home, and despite the result, Grieve says the team can still improve, especially in defence.

He said: “Our defence maybe let us down a wee bit. Some of the points we lost weren’t great and if we, with all due respect, came up against a better side on the day, then we may have been in a wee bit of trouble.

Falkirk Rugby Club coach Stevie Leckie watches on from the sidelines

"We allowed them to score 36 points and that shouldn’t be happening. We had some individual errors at key times.

“The mindset was a bit like if you score one, we’ll score two, three, four which is fine and if we won every match then I wouldn’t mind at all but we just need to watch out.

“I am nitpicking however because we have played two matches now and we have picked up ten points which was the goal so I have to be happy with that. Every single time we got into their 22 we scored just about so were certainly clinical in that sense.

“I have mentioned it so many times but momentum is the key thing for us.

“We need to get on a roll again like we did last year and let it carry us into the winter, which can be a wee bit of a slog.

"We will hit a bump in the road at one point and the more momentum you have – the easier it is to put a one-off behind you.“