Rugby: Barnes looks to Hawick for inspiration as Accies drop

EDINBURGH ACCIES coach Ian Barnes believes that the feats of his former team Hawick this season offer reason for optimism at the Raeburn Place club.

Barnes saw his men relegated from Scottish Hydro Premiership Division One on Saturday after going down 21-6 at home to Capital rivals Heriot's while fellow strugglers Watsonians were snatching a dramatic victory at Melrose.

Accies battled all the way in an intense encounter but were unable to capitalise on spells in the ascendancy and will now target a swift return to the top flight. Barnes was typically forthright in his views, but feels they must seek to emulate the achievement of the Borderers.

"It's a blow – no question about it," he said of the relegation. "We have to take it on the chin. We came up short on the day But Hawick went down and Hawick bounced back up."

Insisting that the demotion was the result of poor performances throughout the campaign and not only Saturday's loss, Barnes added: "It wasn't about this game. We have shot ourselves in the foot so often during the season."

While he has not yet decided how much involvement he will have next season, he insists he will be back to support the Accies cause, adding: "I'll still be here."

Accies produced a committed effort against a Heriot's side that still has aspirations of a top four finish. The Goldenacre men took the lead in five minutes with a penalty by skipper Graham Wilson. That sparked a vigorous response from Accies and Tom Brown sent Paul Loudon darting over, although the pass was adjudged forward and the score was checked off.

Heriot's took full advantage and extended their lead when Michael Maltman powered over for a try, but the hosts turned round only 8-3 in arrears after Gavin Douglas slotted a penalty shortly before the break.

Douglas capped a lively restart by Accies with a second penalty then struck the post after another award for an offence that earned Neil Meikle a yellow card. However, despite having the bulk of the possession during the third quarter, Accies failed to add to their points tally.

And they handed the initiative back to their opponents when Ed Stuart was dispatched to the sin bin. Wilson slotted the resultant penalty then added another to create an eight point gap. Barnes identified Stuart's departure as a significant factor in the final outcome. "A stupid yellow card killed us," he fumed. "It was absolutely needless. We were there within striking distance and they took advantage of it."

Restored to their full complement, Accies raised the pace for a final effort but Heriot's coped comfortably with the onslaught and added gloss to the score line when Wilson darted in for an injury time try then added the conversion to maintain his side's surge towards the top four.

Heriot's coach Bob McKillop was delighted with the win and sympathetic to the plight of Accies, who now accompany Stewart's Melville in taking the drop. "I take absolutely no pleasure in that. I've been there before and I wouldn't wish that on anybody," he said. "But we've got to look after Heriot's and I'm very pleased that we've got another four points.

"We want to finish fourth in the league and to do that we need to win our remaining two games.

"The talk on the street is that there will be four teams next season in the British & Irish Cup and we want to make sure we are in that position."

While Heriot's had to overcome late call offs by Alan Dymock and Andy Douglas – the latter pulled a calf muscle during the warm up – McKillop acknowledged that it was not the best performance by his players. He will be looking to reduce the error count in their remaining matches against Glasgow Hawks and Ayr, which they must win to muscle their way into the leading quartet in the league table.

McKillop's men will play the first of those encounters on Saturday. However, although both are scheduled as home fixtures, Heriot's may be forced to play them on neutral territory – Raeburn Place and Meggetland have been made available – with the posts at Goldenacre due to be taken down in the coming days.

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

Edinburgh Accies: S Moffat, T Brown, P Loudon, S Wilson, M Coupar, G Douglas, C Martin, D McLeod, D Cherry, L Niven, E Stuart, G Campbell, R Snape, T Drennan, D Teague. Subs used: R Bonner, D Denton

Heriot's: C Goudie, M Teague, P Saunders, R Mill, M Nimmo, G Rutherford, G Wilson, M Welch, N Meikle, W Blacklock, P O'Connor, M Reid, M Maltman, C Fusaro, J Syme. Subs used: K Bryce, C Owenson, C Osazuwa, O Brown.

Referee: G Knox (Greenock Wanderers).