EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS REPORTS
COLIN RENTON AT ANNIESLAND
Glasgow Hawks 34 Heriot's 18

DESPONDENT Heriot's coach Bob McKillop watched his side stumble out of the National Cup at the hands of an inspired Glasgow Hawks side, then promised that the Goldenacre men will be back in force next season.

The 34-18 defeat away to the deposed league champions signalled the end of the fifteen-a-side season for McKillop's men. They will now focus on sevens before taking a summer break, returning for the new campaign in the expanded 12-team Premiership top flight.

McKillop and his assistant George Breckenridge, who have just completed their first season at the helm, have extended their tenure at the club and the former Dunfermline and Stirling County supremo, who was also assistant to the Scotland Under-20 side for the Six Nations, believes the duo will be more effective in their second year. "We didn't really find the way we wanted to play until around half-way through the season. We now know how we want to play, it's just a case of making sure we play that way every week," said McKillop . "In some respects, for George and I, the second season should be when we deliver."

In making his overall assessment, he added: "If I was to sum the season up in one word it would be inconsistent. That's a frustration for me and it's a frustration for the players. When we have been good we've been very good but we haven't been able to sustain it and that has been the problem."

Having seen his men produce a scintillating performance to dismantle Melrose seven days earlier, McKillop was optimistic going into Saturday's clash, particularly as Heriot's had beaten Hawks twice on league business.

However, it was the hosts who produced the more spirited display to book a quarter-final clash with Stewart's-Melville at Inverleith on Saturday.

"I'm very disappointed with the way we played. Clearly the best team won. We seemed very lethargic in the first half which was surprising," said McKillop.

"I'm not sure what the reasons for it are - we've got a long summer to find that out now. Nothing was as slick as the week before against Melrose, the set piece, the handling. Having said that, I thought Hawks scored some nice tries and they competed very well at the breakdown."

The Glasgow outfit opened the scoring after three minuets when scrum-half Kenny Sinclair freed flanker John Maclay to race in between the sticks. Murray Strang converted then added the extras after going over for try number two as Hawks dominated the early proceedings.

Graham Wilson clawed back three points for Heriot's and the Capital outfit battled their way back into the game after 25 minutes when John Houston - playing his final game for the club - sent over a high cross kick that Hawks winger Stuart Low fumbled, allowing Heriot's skipper Marc Teague to pounce for the try. Wilson slotted the conversion and then trimmed the gap to a single point with another penalty shortly before the break. However, with the referee ready to blow the whistle for half time, Maclay grabbed his second try and Strang again converted to make it 21-13 as the teams changed ends. Strang banged over a penalty then added the conversion to a try by Neil Caddell before Heriot's mounted a last desperate flourish in a bid to save the tie. However, all they could muster from a lengthy spell in the ascendancy was a try by Steve Manning before Strang tied up the win with his second penalty of the afternoon. It was a disappointing sign off for Houston, who is now bound for the professional ranks, having signed a deal with Edinburgh. While his departure will be a blow to the Goldenacre men, it was viewed positively by McKillop, who said: "That was one of our goals this year - to get some guys to move on to the pro ranks. We've hit all the targets we set for individual recognition, it's just in the team recognition that we haven't achieved what we wanted."

In the home ranks, forwards coach Dave Cockburn was delighted at the way his side had continued their strong finish to the season and is now eyeing the silverware. The Capital-based coach praised the visitors for their style of play. He said: "I commend Heriot's for running the ball at every opportunity instead of kicking it.

"In Cup rugby you can't take anything for granted. We will have a tough game against Stewart's Melville but it should be another good game."

This article was posted on 2-Apr-2007, 12:03 by Hugh Barrow.