Rugby: Lasswade's Quigley tipped for Shield glory

LASSWADE president Ian Barr has backed stand-in flanker Craig Quigley to grab his chance of Murrayfield glory when his side take on Greenock Wanderers in the Scottish Hydro National Shield final at 2pm tomorrow.

Quigley takes over from former Watsonian ace Gavin Brown, who has been ruled out with a fractured cheekbone and Barr said: "We have scored 122 points in our last two league games and Craig has played his part as a big, aggressive ball carrier.

"He also comes from good rugby stock with his older brother, Colin, a professional at Rotherham, and I'm certain he'll do a good job as always."

While Brown is ruled out, two other ex-Myresiders, Carl McWilliam and Bernie Hennessey, are integral to Lasswade.

But Barr points out: "No fewer than 18 of the matchday squad of 22 have come through our youth system, including teenage wingers Niall Gray and Kyle Smith. Hopefully, they'll be able to exploit the extra space of the international pitch."

Lasswade skipper Mark Billingham said : "Ourselves and Greenock have been playing the best rugby in National league division two.

"Greenock have a big pack that dominated Dalziel in the semi-final which is something we've been looking at. We need to keep our set play pretty tight – it's a battle from the front."

In the preceding Regional Bowl final, North Berwick face Strathmore at noon.

The main event, the Cup final (4pm), sees Melrose tackle Ayr, when Premiership points will also be at stake.