SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY REVEALS

Melrose and Heriot's go for glory but axe expected to fall, finds Iain Morrison


SCOTTISH Hydro Electric Cup (SHE) final takes place at Murrayfield next weekend but, whatever the weather on the day, it will undoubtedly take place under a cloud. There are threats that this year's encounter, between Melrose and Heriot's, could be the last ever final, with a genuine possibility that the axe will fall on what has been a steadily declining attraction.

The initiative comes mostly from the Border clubs who feel that the expense of travelling around the country for a national cup competition is too high a price to pay. They would prefer to either regionalise the early rounds or simply concentrate on the Border League, full of local derbies, which attracts more fans through the gates. It's a fair point but a sad one all the same that a relatively small country such as Scotland can't host a national knockout cup contest that sees a total of 14 teams, eight men's clubs and six women's, compete at Murrayfield on finals day.

One Borderer who will be loath to see the end of cup rugby is Melrose coach Craig Chalmers, not least because his side have worked their way through to next Saturday's showdown. "I'd be sad to see the end of the national cup but the arguments all boil down to money," said the former Scotland flyhalf. "It is expensive to compete if you get a few draws away from home."

Melrose will travel to Murrayfield but they have stirred up plenty of controversy in getting there. Flanker John Dalziel and English prop Kieran Cooney were banned for stamping a few weeks back after Boroughmuir winger Rory Coupar required stitches in an ear wound. The pair appealed their ban and, before the appeal was heard, played a full part in both the quarter and semi-final victories over Hawick and Watsonians respectively. When the appeal eventually came before the disciplinary panel it was quashed and Chalmers says that a sense of injustice will be driving his team next Saturday afternoon.

"Neither of the two players who were banned caused the injury," claims the coach. "That came from a third person altogether and we are backed up by the video and the referee David Changleng who was on the spot. Even the disciplinary panel came to the conclusion that neither player caused the injury to Coupar's ear and the way Melrose have been treated makes us more determined to do a job next weekend. The sense of injustice at the club is huge, massive."

Such is the influence of Dalziel, a former professional with the Borders, that without him Melrose might struggle to subdue a team that they lost to by one point when the two last met in the capital on league business.

But if patience is worthy of any reward the Borderers have a fighting chance. It has been over a decade since they last won the cup back in 1997; the year they did the double, topping the league as well as triumphing in the knockout competition. That marked some sort of high water mark for Melrose and was the last of an astonishing six league championships they won throughout the 1990s.

Since then their trophy cabinet has been bare but Melrose will want to trumpet the resurgence of Borders rugby with a win.

Their city opponents Heriot's, meanwhile, will be fielding some of Scotland's brightest young talent, including Jim Thompson, in the midfield. And two stars of Scotland's age grade teams, Roddy Grant and Chris Fusaro, will pair up in the Heriot's backrow. The former has been missing with injury while the latter has been on sevens duty with Scotland. It is rare for them to both appear in tandem and Heriot's coach Bob McKillop was waxing lyrical about the impact he expects from his youngsters. "Chris has been away at the sevens for five weeks so last weekend was the first time we had seen him for some time and we were just amazed, standing there open-mouthed. He is small but very good in the contact area. He is a very, very classy player."

SCOTTISH CUP HISTORY

2007: Glasgow Hawks 24, Edinburgh Accies 13

2006: Watsonians 31, Currie 15

2005: Boroughmuir 39, Dundee HSFP 25

2004: Glasgow Hawks 29, Dundee HSFP 17

2003: Heriot's FP 25, Watsonians 13

2002: Hawick 20, Glasgow Hawks 17

2001: Boroughmuir 39, Melrose 15



2000: Boroughmuir 35, Glasgow Hawks 10

1999: Gala 8, Kelso 3

1998: Glasgow Hawks 36, Kelso 14

1997: Melrose 31, Boroughmuir 23

1996: Hawick 17, Watsonians 15

This article was posted on 27-Apr-2008, 07:04 by Hugh Barrow.