EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS REPORTS

Mansell gets Heriot's off to flying start

GARY HEATLY
AT GOLDENACRE


Heriot's 13
Boroughmuir 0

HERIOT'S rugby captain Marc Teague heaped praise on the club's new players after leading his side to victory in the Mansell Cup at Goldenacre on Saturday.

The home side won their own eight-team tournament thanks to a 13-0 win over Capital rivals Boroughmuir in the final after both had won their respective leagues earlier in the afternoon.

The final brought together two evenly matched sides and was a tight affair.

Tries from Roddy Deans and James Thompson eventually won the 30-minute game for Heriot's, denying 'Muir the chance to retain the trophy.

Victorious skipper Teague believes the players the club have brought in over the summer will have a big part to play if any more silverware is to make its way back to Goldenacre over the coming months.

The 24-year-old winger, standing in for injured captain James Osborne said: "The new players all did very well throughout the tournament and showed what an asset they will be to the club.

"Roddy Deans, John Houston and Cammy Bruce from Hawick were outstanding and have really helped us bulk up. Steve Manning [pictured right] and Cameron Goodall also showed up well."

Certainly Deans may prove to be the signing of the summer. The former Hawick captain was superb in both attack and defence during the final, scoring the crucial first try and putting in some great tackles as 'Muir threatened a fightback.

The thought of him linking up with James Osborne and Craig Harrison in the back row will be a frightening thought for many Premier One sides.

They may be thankful then that Osborne is likely to miss a few weeks having just had cartilage removed from his knee, while Harrison is still some months away from recovery following an elbow operation.

What the other new players aside from Deans, give to Heriot's is pace in abundance. They played with great width on Saturday and it was pleasing on the eye.

Teague is also pleased that players such as Houston and Goodall, who arrived from Kirkcaldy, give the squad strength in depth and are players who can play in numerous positions.

All of which leaves him optimistic as season 2005/06 approaches fast.

"The new boys can all cover various positions which gives us added strength. In the past when we have had injuries we have struggled to cope, playing well in the league up until Christmas and then falling away but hopefully this year it will be different.

"It is all coming together well. We will use next week [a friendly in Halifax] to fine-tune a few things and hopefully we will be raring to go for the start of the season," the speedster, who was last season's Premier One top try scorer, explained.

There were also plenty of plus points from the day for 'Muir.

The form of returning full-back Ross Cook will have been a positive for coach Bruce Reekie, and the performance of stand-off Andy Hadden, who looked more at home than he did on the wing last season, will also have given the coach some food for thought.

The final was closely fought with chances few and far between and Boroughmuir were not helped early on when they lost back row Sam Paulo through injury.

The first glimpse of a chance fell to Heriot's and Teague, but he was well stopped on the right wing by 'Muir full-back Rory Couper, the Scotland sevens man switching from his usual wing berth for the game.

Two minutes later Heriot's took the lead through a penalty by stand off Greg Rutherford, who had started the match in place of Edinburgh's Ander Monro.

The three points sparked the home side into life and they went close to scoring the game's first try moments later.

The move was begun by back row Jamie Syme, who was impressive all afternoon, and the ball was slickly passed through a number of pairs of hands before Teague was stopped short by 'Muir centre Stephen Ruddick.

Almost immediately after the restart Heriot's did manage to find a way through the tough tackling Ruddick and Co's defences. Fittingly, it was the hard-working Deans who got the try, barging his way over on the left after he was afforded too much space to run into.

Try as they might, the Meggetland side just could not get their attacking game going. Scrum half Calum Cusiter, the usually tricky customer, was given no time on the ball and Couper was finding it hard to get into the match from his new position.

The coup de grace came in the final minute as Heriot's put together another flowing backs move. On this occasion full-back James Thompson gliding over after good work from Houston.

The try brought to an end a fascinating day's rugby and on this evidence both Heriot's and Boroughmuir will have a big say as the Capital clubs try to wrestle the Premier One crown away from Glasgow Hawks over the coming months.

This article was posted on 15-Aug-2005, 18:53 by Hugh Barrow.