If it's true that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, Hillhead-Jordanhill's band of brothers are going to be an almighty force in the future.

As we head towards the shortest day, the Glasgow club has still to savour victory or even muster a point in the 2014-15 campaign and are utterly adrift at the bottom of the Scottish National League after 12 fixtures.

On the plus side, they demonstrated signs of improvement against the division's runaway leaders Selkirk on Saturday and actually led 18-15 before finally slipping to a 29-18 defeat. But nobody in and around their environs is under any illusions: the Hills are alive, but they are going down to a lower competition next season and the task is to ensure their slide doesn't continue thereafter.

Nobody who loves sport will derive any humour from their situation, but the club's honorary president, Bernie Mitchell, has been involved in rugby long enough to appreciate that troughs and travails tend to go in cycles. His charges fared relatively well while they were creating new facilities four or five years ago, but Mitchell is honest enough to admit that officials took their eyes off the ball and their plight worsened when 21 players left for pastures new at the end of last season. There were fears that Hills might go to the wall, and they did have to default on a Cup tussle with Kelso, but despite suffering a string of morale-sapping losses week in, week out, there is a surprising and refreshing spirit around the premises.

"We have brought in Bill Macdonald, who is one of the best coaches on the domestic circuit, and he has Chris Reid as his back-up, and we realise we are having to work from the bottom upwards and it is tough just now," said Mitchell. "But when you consider we were beaten 77-5 by Selkirk down in the Borders just three months ago, the weekend's display proved we have taken steps forward and we have to keep building on that.

"I think we all recognise that mistakes were made in the past, but we can't afford to spend time looking back. It [the SNL] is a very tough league and we have had big problems, particularly in the front row, where you need specialist skills. We only have 20 or 21 players in our First XV at the moment, so you don't have to be an expert in maths to appreciate how thin bodies are on the ground. It's the same for our 2nds and we travelled to one match recently with only 15 lads and the physio, and there were uncontested scrums. By the end of the game, we only had 12 fit players on the field, and that is a challenge for anybody. But we are determined to keep things going, because there are optimistic signs when you look beyond the SNL table.

"We have certainly benefited from recruiting three Croatian internationalists, for instance - Tonci Buzov, Nik Jurisic and Ivan Miljak. When they first arrived in September, everything was new to them and you can't just expect guys to slot into any side straight away. Yet their attitude has been first-class, they have flung themselves into doing whatever they can to help us, and that is one of the most obvious things you notice when you walk into the club. Yes, results have not gone as we would have liked, but nobody is feeling disheartened. On the contrary, we are pulling together a strategic plan and making sure we are prepared for life at a lower level in 2015-16. Other clubs have faced problems and bounced back and we aim to follow in their footsteps."

Hillhead has a strong women's team, ably coached by Keith Robertson, and no shortage of stalwart figures in their ranks. Macdonald is one of life's tough-as-teak characters and will do his utmost to transform the current situation. But the problem is, principally, one of numbers. It stands to reason that if you only have 35 or 40 adults turning up for training, it is nigh impossible to keep putting out two XVs on a regular basis.

Yet Mitchell possesses the stamina for the long game and has faced worse things away from rugby in recent months to offer perspective to Hillhead's predicament. "We can talk about missing players through injury, or how we are starting from scratch again, but the reality is that league tables don't lie and we deserve to be where we are," he said. "I suspect that we will endure another one or two heavy defeats in the New Year, and there are some very good teams such as Watsonians, Dundee High, Selkirk and GHA in the league. But we'll keep battling."

They may have failed to break their duck thus far. But there is nothing pointless about the exertions of Mitchell, Macdonald and the rest of those of those inclined to head to the Hills.

TEAM OF THE WEEK

Falkirk have been one of the most progressive organisations for many years and continue to push for promotion in Scottish Championship League A. They've gone through several different coaches during the process, but are determined to keep climbing the ladder and maintained their momentum with a 55-0 victory against Haddington.

TALKING POINT

How can you go from championship challengers to also-rans in the space of two months? We'd better ask Gala, who have plummeted down the Scottish Premiership table to the extent there was nothing surprising about their latest reverse - a 26-12 loss at home to Hawick.