ARDROSSAN Accies' head coach Andrew Duncan admitted he is a bit of a "culture freak" but believes that is exactly what has driven their perfect first half of the league campaign.

The club legend returned to the Memorial Field at the start of this season in a new role slightly removed from his old position as full-back in the starting 15.

However, after an injury in the warm up at the weekend, he was forced to pull his boots back on and play the full 80 minutes as his side ran out 67-0 winners at home to Oban Lorne in the league.

The win gave the Accies their ninth win of the 18 game West Region League Division One season. It means they are now halfway through their campaign, and have beaten every side within their league.

And as they have made their way halfway towards and league title, and promotion, the head coach sat down with the Herald to chat about how the club has turned their fortunes around - after only narrowly avoiding the drop last season.

He said: “I’m a bit of a culture freak, a lot of the focus right at the start was on everything off the pitch - getting the right guys involved off the pitch and in the coaching team.

“The likes of Andy Thomson and Martin Gaetano and a couple of guys like that who mix in with the players.

“Andy Thomson has come in with a sports psychologist background so he deals with a lot of the players and their mental stuff – whether it’s Jack Anderson with his kicking or any of the lineout throwers, people with their passing or even just the general day to day mental wellbeing of the boys.

“That’s something that’s been really important for the boys off the pitch."

That change in attitude has coincided with the club's upturn in form, with the Memorial field once again being the 'place to be' for local rugby talent.

A number of top players who had previously departed the club have since returned in a bid to fight for each other, and the Accies, as they set their sights on better things.

READ MORE: Ardrossan Accies: Jack Anderson is enjoying being back home

Andy added: “There’s been a lot of involvement with the social stuff, there’s been good team socials and the boys are about each other after training, or going together for breakfast some mornings before the games.

“I think that helps as guys start to enjoy being around one another and it makes it easier when you are in the trenches so to speak and you begin to fight harder for one another.

“That is spreading into the senior section and the club as a whole with a lot of the under 18s wanting to be involved in things and they are really enjoying it too.”

While fans have also began to flock to the Memorial Field every weekend, with the club playing rugby that has the town excited once again.

“It’s all adding up to hopefully being a successful season," the head coach added.

Andy also has no doubt that the squad will not let their standards drop, as they continue to push to have the league title in their hands when the season ends in February - weather permitting of course.

He said: “I’m delighted obviously. I went into the season unknown, I’m never really too bothered about what other teams are going to offer as long as we react to teams and take care of our own game.

“We’ve played everybody once now, it’s been tough, it’s been challenging, as much as it’s nine wins there’s not been an easy game where we could relax.

“We keep striving to be better, as much as we’re halfway we’ve got ambitious goals where it’s always going to get harder.

“As long as we can keep composed and not get complacent then it’s just a case of building on from what we’ve been doing."

He added that the weekend's performance was the perfect example of the direction they are heading.

Andy added: “You just look at the game at the weekend, although it was another win it was probably our best performance so far.

“That’s the sort of thing we keep saying at training, we’ve got to make sure that we do keep stepping up, ask for more and challenge ourselves.

“We know where we are at the moment, we know where we want to be, there’s potential cup runs and stuff like that.

“If players want to be involved they need to be there at training, around the club and pushing each other.

“Like every club there will be players that miss games and guys need to make sure they are ready and chomping at the bit for that opportunity.

“That is the main thing, if there are 30/40 odd guys enjoying rugby then it makes it easier to come into that competitive environment and just do what you’re doing without having to overthink things.”