Youngsters hope to add to Currie success

CURRIE take on Dumfries in the National under-18 Youth Cup final at Murrayfield Stadium tonight, kick-off 7.30pm.

Having come through the opening round of the competition with two comfortable home wins over fellow Lothian sides Portobello (39-7) and Ross High (56-0), Currie travelled to Bridgehaugh where they exacted revenge on last season's cup winners, Stirling County (11-8).

The win over County was the first of three hard fought away wins, with the side beating Musselburgh 12-6 at Stoneyhill before confirming their place in the final with a win over Aberdeen Grammar (22-10) at Rubislaw.

With the under-15s crowned as cup winners in February and the 1st XV currently top of Scottish Hydro Premier 1, under-18 team manager, Bob Ormiston, was keen to underline the strength of the club's development throughout.

He said: "There's a been a good buzz about the club this season: the second XV have won promotion, the thirds won their league, and our cup winning under-15s play in a league decider today, so there's a lot going on at the club.

"For me tomorrow's final is the pinnacle of under-18 club rugby. Any time you get the chance to play at the home of Scottish rugby is tremendous."

A clean sheet away against Dalziel in round one (31-0) announced Dumfries' intent before a defaulted fixture catapulted them into the quarter-finals where they beat Haddington 17-10 away and then Boroughmuir (14-7) on home soil.

Dumfries team manager, Alan Graham, said: "Dumfries is a relatively small club and it's a great advertisement for the club to be here. The lads themselves will hopefully be the mainstay of the club for years to come."

DUMFRIES XV: Jordan Kerr; Taylor Hyslop, Gareth Lipton, Chris Auld, Neil Armstrong; Robert Austin, Scott Steele; Sean Graham, Louis Muirhead, Rory Middleton, Blair Thomson, Chris Wickes, Jamie Graham, Ewan Miller, Callum Templeton. Subs: Andrew Ainslie, Martin Green, Bruce Hunt, Dominic Lewis, Scott Costley, Brodie Paterson, Mark Olney

CURRIE SQUAD: Forwards: Fergus Scott, Aaron Ferguson, Calum Ormiston, Stephen Dalton, Denis Pech, Danny Smith, Ross Wilson, Scott Thomson, Andy Philip, Irving Hastie, Angus Black, Malcolm Peacock, Lloyd Gorman, Grant Williamson, Been Meechan. Backs: Joe Stachan, Ross Buchanan, Scott Mullins, Lewis Watt, Ben Brown, Scott Butler, Ben Shearer, Gregor Porteous, Mike Smith, Mark McWilliam, Murray Halliday, Jamie Girvan, Evan Mills, Mathew O'Neil