THE SCOTSMAN REPORTS

Premier Cup: Haddington in battle to beat weather as 11 ties fall foul of frost

Published Date: 08 January 2011
By GARY HEATLY
Eleven Premier Cup matches scheduled for this afternoon have already fallen foul of the weather with others likely to follow suit this morning, but Haddington are to pull out all the stops to make sure their encounter with Melrose goes ahead.
After up to seven weeks without action all 36 clubs were hopeful of getting back into the swing of things today. However, a drop in temperatures across the country on Thursday and yesterday has seen a number of clubs forced to postpone due to frost

The following ties were all called off yesterday afternoon: Dundee HSFP v Gala, Selkirk v Hawick, Glasgow Hawks v Edinburgh Accies, Jed-Forest v Dalziel, Boroughmuir v Stirling County, Kelso v Morgan Academy, Currie v Aberdeen Grammar, Howe of Fife v Hamilton, Ardrossan Accies v Biggar, Hillhead/Jordanhill v Cartha QP and West of Scotland v Watsonians.

Pitch inspections are set to take place at seven other grounds this morning with the hope of getting some rugby in.

In East Lothian, Haddington, who are celebrating their centenary, are due to have a pitch inspection at Neilson Park at 9am to determine if the tie with Melrose can go ahead there. If the frost beats them there they hope to play the match at Dunbar's Hallhill.

In the 21 months that have passed since the two sides met in the 2008/09 Scottish Cup semi-final at the Greenyards a lot has changed. Melrose have continued to grow under Craig Chalmers, currently topping Premier One and having defeated Esher in the British & Irish Cup on Monday, while Haddington - then in Premier Two - have slipped to Premier Three and have lost a host of key players.

The likes of Donald Snodgrass (now coaching at Stewart's Melville), Callum Mark (Heriot's), Dougie Orr (Watsonians), Neil Rodger and Derek O'Riordan (both Boroughmuir) all left Haddington in the summer following relegation.

It meant new coach Steve Ferguson had a big job on his hands when he took up the reins a few months ago, but the new-look team has slowly knitted together and will be out to give it their best against the 2008 cup winners.

Ahead of the pool C encounter Haddington president Andrew Cunningham said: "We will try our best to get the match on somewhere and if it does get the go ahead it will be great to be able to welcome Melrose, a team with such history and who are flying high this season, and the guys will go out there and give it their all."

Chalmers has made a number of changes to the Melrose side that defeated Esher at the start of the week. Former skipper Jamie Murray is one of eight players brought in and Chalmers said: "This game will give a number of players the opportunity to stake a claim for a regular stating place and Haddington are always a tough nut to crack on their home turf."

Kiwi Frazier Climo is due to play his last match for holders Ayr after securing a training contract opportunity with Taranaki back home.


They are set to host GHA at Millbrae, but despite frost covers having been down the match still looks a doubt.

Meanwhile, with their cup matches off Gala have arranged to take on Kelso in the Border League at Netherdale.

This article was originally posted on 8-Jan-2011, 07:51 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 8-Jan-2011, 07:52.