Heriot's 39 - 14 Watsonians : Dominant Heriot's catch Watsonians napping

HERIOT'S dominated the city derby and took maximum points as they turned over a disappointing, disjointed Watsonians team who for long periods seemed to be sleep-walking into the new season

Heriot's substitute Kevin Bryce goes headlong into the Watsonians defence of No 17 Ed Hunter and Alan Nash with Jamie Blackwood in support.

Five times Heriot's clicked into gear and five times they scored tries —a superb hat-trick for full back Colin Goudie and a double for inside centre Peter Saunders. Watsonians only managed to get a sniff of the line once and flanker Sam Paulo grabbed his chance before his team-mates retreated into their shells.

At other times, the game was scrappy, niggly and littered with injuries as disused muscles sought match fitness. But by the final whistle, Heriot's were in complete control and had showed enough to suggest that they could improve on their mid-table finish last year.

Then it was often a case of getting themselves into winning positions but failing to close the deal. This season, if this merciless dispatch of neighbours Watsonians is anything to go by, there should be no such under-achievement.

Heriot's coach Bob McKillop said: "It went to plan on five occasions in the game when we scored five very good tries. We very rarely managed to go through the phases and when we did we scored. Everybody is a little bit undercooked but we still managed to score 39 points. It never felt as if we were in full control because we wanted to go through the phases and do so at pace but we didn't quite get there. But it is only the third week in August. We know there will much tougher tests ahead."

The first try was a sign of what was to come. Possession from a five metre line-out went across the field to be recycled and returned, to put the Watsonians defence on the wrong foot and allow Goudie the space to glide through almost effortlessly and touch down.

Watsonians, already battling the odds with stand-off Andrew Skeen limping off, tried to do exactly the same at the other end. They spurned a chance to take three very kickable points and went to the corner. They won the line-out but their runners couldn't get anywhere near the line. Then they tried to cut their losses when another penalty was awarded but Mike Ker sliced it wide.

Heriot's captain Graham Wilson showed him how to do it with a simple 20-metre penalty before Goudie popped up again to run through a flat-footed defence for a second try. Meanwhile Ker hit the target with two penalties to make the halftime score 15-9.

Just before the break, Heriot's prop Wullie Blacklock was sent to the sin bin for one too many infringements but it didn't seem to do the home side any harm because, with only 14 men, Saunders got his quickfire pair of tries to put the game beyond Watsonians.

Saunders' double provoked a fightback as Watsonians carried the ball upfield via a succession of intelligent and fluid passes that cut through some complacent tackles and created a try for Paulo far out on the left wing.

But Heriot's learned their lesson and didn't miss a tackle after that. Their pack demonstrated their superiority by marching a maul from halfway to 22 and tossing the ball to Wilson to kick the penalty when the inevitable offence was penalised.

McKillop might not have thought his team were in total control but the crowd certainly did and the Watsonians players weren't going to argue. They just wanted the game to end.

But Goudie had one more trick up his sleeve, coming in at an angle at the end of a passing move that flowed first one way and then the other across the pitch before he crashed over beside the posts to complete his hat-trick and leave his skipper with the simplest of tasks to tap over the conversion.

Scorers: Heriot's: Tries: Goudie 3, Saunders 2. Cons: Wilson 4. Pens: Wilson 2. Watsonians: Try: Paulo. Pens: Ker 3.

Heriot's: C Goudie; G Walker, M Learmonth, P Saunders, M Nimmo; C Ferguson, G Wilson; A Dymock, S Burnett, W Blacklock, R Martin, M Reid, J Parker, P Eccles, M Lee. Subs: K Bryce, G Cameron, J Hill, G Hunter, G Bryce.

Watsonians: A Nash; J Forbes, M di Rollo, C Sorbie, R Minto; A Skeen, J Blackwood; C Owenson, G Wood, K Coertze, S Ursache, A Fisher, S Paulo, M Fedo, W Rowley. Subs: E Hunter, S Laird, D Finnie, G Somerville, M Ker.

Referee: D Walker