Capital rivals face final reckoning as survival battle reaches climax

CURRIE and Ayr will be looking to keep pace with each other at the top of the Premier One table this afternoon when they take on West of Scotland and Dundee HSFP respectively, but the real drama on today's fixture card is set to unfold at the other end of the league, where Edinburgh Accies and Watsonians have their necks on the chopping block.

A combination of bad weather and British and Irish Cup commitments has conspired to create an unsatisfactory scenario whereby the league's top two teams still have five games to play in mid-April – so nothing will be decided definitively today in the title race. In contrast, both Accies and Watsonians are playing their last games of the campaign, so their fates are destined to be sealed this afternoon.

Edinburgh Accies are marginal favourites to avoid being relegated alongside Stewart's-Melville by virtue of having collected two more league points than their rivals from across the city, but they face a tough task against a Heriot's team which has won six out of their last seven league matches. Watsonians, meanwhile, travel to Melrose hoping the Borderers have been knocked off their stride by coach Craig Chalmers' various run-ins this week with the police and the SRU.

The Myreside men have been boosted by the availability of Scotland international Ally Hogg, who is on the comeback trail after hip surgery. They also have former Scotland player Marcus Di Rollo in the centre, and coach Bruce Aitchison believes that this experienced duo could be crucial to his side upsetting the odds at the Greenyards.

"Having a current Scotland player at No 8 and a former Scotland player at centre is almost unheard of in the club game, and it is a huge boost for the boys," he said. "An added bonus is that the pair of them have been helping coach the side all season, they have not just been parachuted into the team. They know the guys and the guys know them, and everyone is crystal clear about what we are trying to do."

Hogg will be the 50th different player to pull on the Watsonians jersey this season, which gives an indication of how tough Aitchison has found it to build consistency during the campaign.

"That is a ridiculous number of players to have used at this level, it effectively means we have had to use third XV players in some matches," he said. "Credit to those guys because they have come in and done well – but it means you are fighting an uphill battle.

"Finding ourselves in this position has been pretty hard to take. I know I've worked really hard this year, and in general the players have worked really hard as well.

"We've had our chances to climb out of this position and we've let matches slip through our fingers which has been really frustrating."

"We might be relying on our dear friends Heriot's to do us a favour against Edinburgh Accies but that hasn't been discussed at training this week," he continued. "All we are focussed on is going down to Melrose to get a result – that's all we can do.

"People have suggested that Melrose will have one eye on the cup final next week, but that is nonsense. No team in Scotland has been as consistently good during the last ten to 20 years. They have always been there or thereabouts in the league and that is a testament to their mental toughness.

"They hate losing any matches and as far as I can see they have fielded the strongest side available to them this week – so it is going to be a tough mission. Having said all that, I'm confident that we can get a result.

"It might seem strange for me to be saying this, but I have been confident in every game we have gone into.

"The boys have trained hard this week and they are determined to sign this season off on a positive note. Everything else will take care of itself."