THE HERALD REPORTS

Coach John Beattie impressed as mobile Edinburgh Accies outgun West of Scotland


John Beattie, the West of Scotland coach, could not disguise his admiration for Edinburgh Academicals after his side’s defeat by the early-season pacesetters at Burnbrae.

After the visitors’ 34-26 win, Beattie said: “I was very, very impressed by them. They are a good, well-conditioned side. They were very mobile and much better than us in certain key phases.”

Beattie switches his focus to Friday’s derby clash with a revitalised Glasgow Hawks side, fresh from their demolition of Selkirk. “Our tackling let us down against Accies and now the Hawks match has taken on huge significance.”

Mark Coupar and Ruaridh Bonner each went over twice for the capital side, David Rattray claiming the other touchdown. David Duffus and Rattray shared the boot points. West’s counters came from Andy Park, Gordon Bulloch and David Young, while Conor Davis clipped over three penalties and a conversion.

Ian Barnes, the Accies coach, was less impressed. “We made a lot of mistakes out there,” he said. “The plan was to keep it simple and concentrate on basics. We didn’t do that. I think the lads got carried away at times.”

Hawks crushed Selkirk 52-20 at Philliphaugh. Peter Jerecevich and Grant Strang each claimed a double while Duncan Weir had a try and also converted six times.

Ross Curle, Ayr’s new recruit, proved again he has the knack of being in the right place at the right time. The former Viadana midfielder secured a bonus point for the third week in a row, with a fourth try in the 31-13 defeat of Boroughmuir at Millbrae.

Watsonians crushed Heriot’s 41-33 in the Edinburgh derby at Goldenacre. The hosts raced into a 16-0 lead but Mike Ker led the Sonians revival with two tries, three penalties and two conversions for a tally of 23 points.

The woes of Stewart’s-Melville deepened as they crashed 47-5 at home to the other promoted side, Dundee HSFP. Aubrey Horton notched a hat-trick of tries.

This article was posted on 14-Sep-2009, 07:32 by Hugh Barrow.