Edinburgh Accies 6-21 Heriot's: Accies take the drop after spineless show

EVEN before the final whistle has signalled the end of this match the Chinese whispers were reverberating around Raeburn Place: "Watsonians won, Watsonians won, Watsonians won!" They were spot on.

Watsonians won, Accies didn't and as a result they will be playing Premier 2 rugby next season.

It wasn't so much the fact that his side was relegated that grated with coach Ian Barnes, it was the manner in which it happened. Forget any raging against the dying of the light, Accies limped meekly to their fate with too many of their players mere passengers, seemingly resigned to the drop.

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"We came up short today and Watsonians didn't, it's as simple as that," was Barnes' blunt appraisal.

Several of the older heads offered a lead. Skipper Dan Teague is never one to face adversity from a horizontal position and veteran full back Stuart Moffat was more animated than he ever looked in his professional days. Fly-half Gavin Douglas prompted and probed and another fly-half, Ruairidh Bonner, made such a decent first as an emergency No9 that he might think of making the move permanent.

But if the veterans association did their stuff, Accies were let down badly by some of their youngsters on the day. In accordance with SRU policy the club will now lose any SRU academy players, who will be urged to find an alternative Premier One club next season.

Barnes' response to this news wasn't exactly the wailing and gnashing of teeth that you might expect: "I don't think it would be a bad thing losing these (academy) players," were his exact words, and on Saturday's evidence he has a point.

Prop Lewis Niven has just signed a professional contact but he was lucky to be playing for Edinburgh Accies, never mind Edinburgh Rugby. A poor second in the set piece when up against Heriot's second-choice loosehead, he has a mountain of work in front of him this summer if he isn't to spend the whole of next season holding a tackle bag and running backwards five steps at a time.

The flanker David Denton is another SRU academy player whose sole contribution, when he was pitched into the battle midway through the second half, was to miss two tackles and then concede the penalty that allowed Heriot's to move two clear scores ahead, effectively ending the match.

The best of the youngsters were Paul Loudon and Tom Brown, but even then the latter delayed a pass just long enough for Loudon to overrun it and spoil Accies' best scoring opportunity of the match. Incidentally, David Sole's son Jamie spent the last 15 minutes on Accies' right wing and didn't put a foot wrong.

Heriot's coach Bob McKillop said that he took absolutely no pleasure in sending Accies down a division and there were no over-the-top celebrations from his players.

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"My obligation is to Heriot's," said McKillop, "and we are keen to secure a top four place in the league just in case the rumours of four Scottish teams being entered into the British and Irish Cup turn out to be true."

His side had done a professional job in restricting Accies to two penalties from Gavin Douglas, although a third that hit the upright would have given the home team a lead ten minutes into the second half. Heriot's tries came from Michael Maltman in the first half and skipper Graham Wilson at the death, with the same man adding three penalties and one conversion.

Accies are now headed for the second tier but might they start next season without the man who has become synonymous with the Edinburgh club? Will Ian Barnes still be coaching them next year?

"Well, I will still be involved at the club, but it's been a long, hard season," he said. "I'm not so keen on those Tuesday and Thursday nights throughout the long winter months when it's pouring with rain. We'll have to see. I don't know whether Tom Philip will be here although we have Malcolm McVie on board."

"It wasn't about today, we've just shot ourselves in the foot so often this season and, because of injuries, we've used 58 players throughout the season.

"I hate to make excuses but we've been very unlucky, it seems like every bounce of the ball has gone against us. We were struggling at scrum-half and (Edinburgh's) Ross Samson was our banker and then he got injured. We'll have to have a look at it."

With that the big bear of a man shuffled off to the bar but not a soul that knows him believes for one minute that Barnes would seriously contemplate ending his illustrious coaching career with Saturday's anaemic performance.

Scorers: Edinburgh Accies: Pens: Douglas (2). Heriot's: Tries: Maltman, Wilson; Con: Wilson; Pen: Wilson (3).

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Edinburgh Accies: Moffat, Brown, Loudon, Wilson, Coupar; Douglas, Martin, McLeod, Cherry, Niven, Stuart, Campbell, Snape, Drennan, Teague. Subs from: Patience, Strachan, Denton, Bonner, Sole.

Heriot's: Goudie, Teague, Saunders, Mill, Nimmo; Rutherford, Wilson; Welch, Meikle, Blacklock, O'Connor, Reid, Maltman, Fusaro, Syme. Subs from: Bryce, Owenson, Osazuwa, Eccles, Brown.

Referee: G Knox.

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