Border Telegraph | Sport | Here's Tae Melrose: just magic

Friday, 25th July, 2008

Published: Wednesday, 7th May, 2008 12:00

Here's Tae Melrose: just magic

By Atholl Innes at Murrayfield

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Melrose 31 v Heriot's 24

SMALL town, big heart, community spirit, fantastic result.

That summed up a Melrose performance inside the national stadium on a warm Saturday afternoon.

And the team deserved it as Heriot’s were added to Kilmarnock, Glasgow Hawks, Boroughmuir, Hawick and Watsonians as Craig Chalmers’ side’s victims in the competition.

They did it the hard way and added to the resurgence of Borders rugby a year after the SRU scrapped the Reivers.

In essence, the Scottish Hydro Electric Cup final was won by half-time with Melrose 28-0 ahead.

And although Heriot’s fought back to within one score as Melrose tired, the ultimate touchdown came in the last second with the final conversion the lat kick of the game.

It was no wonder that Melrose players celebrated, among them John Dalziel and Kieran Cooney who were banned from the final – but were still able to take their places in the dug-out.

But the men who came in, Stuart Johnson and Andrew Gillie, sustained the level of performance that Dalziel and Cooney would have given to the side.

Johnson twice had too off for blood treatment; twice he was back in the flow.

Melrose hit Heriot’s with a first-half of intensity that knocked the stuffing out of a team, which included a number of full-time players.

No wonder, then, that Melrose did tire, but the tackles they put in as the game entered the final phase saw everyone put their bodies on the line for the club – and for Borders rugby.

“We always knew that Heriot’s would come back at us,” said Chalmers.

“Maybe the guys who are full-time professionals made the difference and their fitness came through at the end.

“This was a massive result for the club. “We haven’t won anything of real value since 1997 back here (cup winners).

“But we have come here today and got a result. Everyone had worked so hard over the past four months.

“We talked about it, and after our league fall-out over four or five games, we have fought back and got better and better every week.

“The teams we beat to get to the final was excellent and to win was just fantastic and the players will tell you how much it means to them.”

In the first half, Melrose played with a passion that Heriot’s could not match. They were, as they say, ‘up for it’ while their opponents simply were blown away in a whirlwind that funnelled up the Gala Water and into Murrayfield.

On the big pitch that is the national stadium, they played big, none more so than joiner Scott Wight, who nailed the victory with four conversions from four tries –not all in front of the posts.

“It was a great achievement,” he said. “The boys worked really hard.”

But this was no one-man show. From 1-15 it was a massive team effort.

The back row of Johnson, Ross Miller and Bill Wallace tied up the Heriot’s threat; Graeme Dodds and the experienced Alex Clark dominated the line-out; while the front three of Gillie, Wayne Mitchell and Richard Higgins were massive against Bruce McNeil, Neil Meikle and Wullie Blacklock.

Behind the scrum, Scott McCormick improves with every match and linked so well with Wight

Jamie Murray led by example alongside the aggressive Glen Stewart while the pace of Jordan Macey, until he was injured and wingers Callum Anderson and David Whiteford posed a constant threat.

Melrose took the lead as early as the eighth minute. Whiteford’s angled break from inside the Heriot’s half released Macey for the opening try.

Heriot’s hit back with a Graham Wilson penalty that rebounded from the upright.

And they counted cost as Whiteford intercepted a loose pass on halfway and Wight’s conversion made it 14-0.

Wight then hit the post with a long-range penalty as Heriot’s found it hard to get into the contest.

Melrose stretched their lead in 33 minutes as Murray’s midfield break sent Macey free and Anderson was on hand to take the inside pass to go over.

In the last move of the first 40 minutes, Melrose took line-out ball close to the line, and not for the first time this season, Mitchell was driven over and Wight goaled the kick for a 28-0 lead.

The stand-off made it 31-0 with 48 minutes gone – they were not to score again. Tries from Cameron Goodall, Innes Brown and Brown again cut the deficit.

But the cup was heading back to The Greenyards.

Melrose: J. Macey; C. Anderson, J.Murray, G. Stewart, D. Whiteford; S. Wight, S. McCormick; A. Gillie, W. Mitchell, R. Higgins, G. Dodds, A, Clark, S, Johnson, R. Miller, W. Wallace. Subs: G. Innes, N. Beavon, R.Ovens, S. Ruthven, B. Watson, A, Jessop, S, Renton.

Heriot’s: C. Goudie; M. Teague, J. Thompson, R. Mill, C. Goodall; M. Strang, G. Wilson; B. McNeil, N.Neikle, W. Blacklock, P. Eccles, G. Noonan, T.McVie, C. Simmonds, C, Fusaro. Subs: S. Mustard, I. Brown, G. Anderson, J. Parker, R. Gray, O. Brown, J. Alston.

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