Stew-Mel's crucial win in dedicated to Mackenzie

Published on Monday 13 April 2009 09:58

JUBILANT Stewart's-Melville rugby captain Richard Borthwick dedicated a 36-15 win at GHA to take his team back into Division One of the Scottish Hydro Electric Premiership to late, lamented coach, Grant Mackenzie.

As Stewart's-Melville celebrated their return to the top flight after a three-year gap, Borthwick took time out to speak movingly about Mackenzie, who died of a brain tumour last summer at the age of 39.

"At the start of this season, colleague Shaun McMurchy said to me that the biggest way to pay tribute to Grant would be to go out and earn promotion.

"It wasn't something the guys talked a lot about, but underneath it was definitely a huge motivating factor.

"Above all, it is good to know that the work done by Grant in setting down foundations have been built upon."

Besides ensuring a return on Mackenzie's passionate and skilful involvement, Stewart's-Melville also gained reward with their five-try win for showing faith in a successor who will surely rank as the youngest in top-flight club rugby next season at the age of 26.

Capped at under-19 level out of Currie, it was while playing in Canada a few years ago that Graeme Moffat got the coaching bug and decided that is where he can really make an impact.

Stepping up from national league Forrester FP it has certainly been a case of so far, so good, as Borthwick acknowledged.

He said: "We'll spend part of the close season trying to convince Moff to get his boots back on. As a coach, though, he has been able to strike the right balance between working hard on the pitch and enjoyment off it."

It is a philosophy that has worked well with centre Borthwick insisting players are so well drilled that his job requires him to do little prompting.

Between them, Stuart Ker and goal-kicker Stuart Clark monopolised the scoring for Stew-Mel, although arguably the key factor was the arrival from off the bench of Lewis Calder as his side turned 5-8 behind.

Captain of Stewart's-Melville College's school cup winning side in 2006 and subsequently polished at the Newcastle Falcons academy, hopes are high that the son of 1984 grand slam hero Jim Calder will return north next season to stake professional contract claims now that his home club are back in the first division.

That leaves Stew-Mel with a few months to ponder permutations in a back row in which Clark just out-shone hard-tackling Stephen Dalgleish and Blair Tweedie with the influential Phil Hendry unavailable on Saturday.

If Tweedie was playing through the pain barrier on an injured ankle ligament, spare a thought too for full-back Hayden Lingard, who turned out with a broken hand, such is the spirit in a side who even proved capable of helping hero Clark forget the disappointment of missing out on possible Olympic selection.

He said: "I missed a bit of last season after spotting an ad for sportsmen to make themselves available for the embryonic GB handball squad for the 2012 Olympics.

"There hasn't been a GB side for years, but with us hosting the Games that is to change, and I got as far as spending two and a half months in a training camp in Denmark with ex-basketball players and footballers.

"The need to come back and earn a living overtook me and occasions like clinching promotion with the club I joined from Stewart's-Melville College make up for missing out on the Olympics."

In the end it was a gold medal display from Stewart's-Melville after an opening 39 minutes when they trailed to a James Pinder try and a Jim Noonan penalty.

Then Clark forced his way over for the first of his tries following an excellent catch by Ben Leathes in a superior Stew-Mel line-out and suddenly there was no holding the Edinburghers.

On the restart, both half-backs pounced on a blocked clearance and again Clark was on hand to race round behind the posts and with Ker converting a 12-8 gap had arrived in the 43rd minute.

A series of defensive surges offered further hope for the visitors – "all season our fitness has been good so I knew when we got our composure we'd be fine" insisted Clark – and a penalty into the corner by Ker was rounded off when Dalgleish put his fellow back-rower over again.

From a loose tap back at a line-out, Calder roared forward for their fourth try with Ker converting and adding a penalty, then a try by Andy Williamson was converted by Noonan to cut the gap.

Ker then ran through from 40 metres unopposed and a definitive sign that Stew-Mel will be up for the Division One challenge came right at the end of an enthralling clash when prop Alex Edmonstone, giving away height and weight, still drove home second row Geoff Warnock back five metres in a tackle.

Coach Moffat said: "I'm pleased the 1sts equalled the promotion success of our 2nds because everyone is a part of what we do."

Significantly, celebrations did not start on Saturday until Stew-Mel 2nds, who had been playing on an adjacent pitch, were summoned to share the champagne.

It was a nice touch from a club that seems to be bound for bigger things.

GHA: Tries: Pinder, Williamson. Conversion: Noonan. Penalty: Noonan.

Stewart's-Melville: Tries: Clark (3), Calder, Ker. Conversions: Ker (4). Penalty: Ker.

GHA: A Rushforth, R Jericevich, N Cassie (c) R McClymont, P Hilley, J Noonan, J Smyth, A McCormick, J Coffey, A Kelly, G Warnock, A Williamson, P Harkin, A Boag, J Pinder. Subs: D Kellock, D Channey, R O'Keefe.

Stewart's-Melville: H Lingard, A Broatch, R Borthwick, captain, C Marshall, A Cox, S Ker, R Paterson, A Edmonstone, C Mackintosh, C Pera, B Leathes, S Brewster, S Dalgleish, S Clark, B Tweedie. Subs: P McLean, R McLeod, L Calder, C Unholz.

Referee: R McHenry