JACK Anderson attended his first Ardrossan Accies game when he was only weeks old - so it seemed inevitable that one day he would turn out for the club himself.

Jack and has family have a long history with the club, including his dad Alan Anderson being a former club captain.

But Jack's road to playing a starring role for the Accies this season has been far from a straightforward one.

After growing up locally, Jack and his family spent time living in New Zealand before returning home around 2015.

Since then, he has starred briefly for his local club before moving on six years ago to spend time playing in Scotland's top divisions as well as in other countries across Europe.

He did reunite with his younger brother Ruairidh, who left the Accies at the end of 2021, when they both joined fellow Ayrshire side Ayr RFC last season.

Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald: Jack and Ruairidh in their previous spell playing together at the Accies.

With good friend Andrew Duncan coming in at the helm, the pair returned to the Memorial Field this season, and it's fair to say it has been pretty fruitful so far.

The Accies notched their sixth consecutive league win against Ayrshire rivals Cumnock on Saturday, securing a bonus point in a 43-19 away victory.

The match saw Jack score a try himself, and convert four of six other scores from Hamish McIntosh, Andy Buchanan, Brian Henry (x2), Ollie Vollam and his brother Ruairidh.

Jack was awarded man of the match in the game, as the fly half brought his personal points tally for the season up to 85.

The perfect start to the campaign, and key role Jack has played, has left him delighted at a perfect return home.

He said: "It's been unreal coming home to Ardrossan, I forgot how much it meant to me to play for the club.

"It's a good laugh showing all the boys the old team photos that have me and Ruairidh in them as kids. So to now be playing in the first XV together week in week out is class."

Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald: Jack and his younger brother Ruairidh at the Accies as youngsters (front middle) with their mother

As the pair continue to star together this season, Jack now has hopes that he and his brother can help emulate the success their dad had at the club.

He continued: "I sat down with Andy (Duncan), who's obviously a good friend, and president Mark Gibson and they told me the plans and how they want to take the club back up the leagues and how they felt me and Ruairidh coming back could bring some experience to a very young but very talented group.

"For me it's always been home - I attended my first game at a week old. Funnily enough I was born not long after my dad captained the club to it's first promotion as champions so I think it's safe to say he enjoyed the celebrations."

Though it hasn't just been the success on the pitch that has made for an enjoyable return to the Accies, as Jack can see the club as a whole is on the up.

He added: "I've found it very enjoyable (being back), the younger boys bring so much energy to training and games, it becomes quite infectious.

"We've got 30 plus seniors every Tuesday and Thursday, 15 or more under 18s with us on a Tuesday night as well, so being able to go 15 on 15 constantly gives us a huge edge over other teams.

"Off the pitch the club's the busiest it's ever been and it's great to see everyone getting behind the squad."

Performances on the pitch have certainly been a key factor in bringing crowds down to the Memorial Field.

Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald: Images from Ardrossan Accies match against Wigtownshire.

After defeating Wigtownshire, who were their nearest challengers at the time, last week, table topping Accies again defeated the side in second place on Saturday - with Jack saying this week's win was even sweeter.

Though the game was marred by a horrible injury to winger Andy Buchanan.

He commented: "Personally beating Cumnock was better than last week, I've a couple of friends that I've played with over the years now playing for them so it's always good to play and against old friends and even better to beat them.

We stuck together really well especially after seeing our try scoring machine of a winger (who has scored eight tries in six matches) go off with a pretty nasty leg break.

"But on that I think it shows how close we are as a team I think most of the squad have been in to see him in hospital and we hope he's back to his try scoring best very soon."

Now, Jack is looking forward to continuing to strive towards achieving the club's lofty ambitions for this season.

He said: "The goals when I first spoke to Andy and Mark were pretty clear win everything.

"I know most teams have similar goals but I really think we have the squad to win the league and win the national shield which will give us a day out at Murrayfield as well."