WATSONIANS have been forced to entertain Melrose in Saturday's Scottish Hydro Electric national cup semi-final on neutral ground after their Myreside pitch was declared unavailable.
The Capital outfit will stake their 11-match unbeaten run at nearby Meggetland instead. A statement on the Watsonian website says: "This change of venue arises due to the Myreside grandstand pitch being switched over to accommodate the school athleti
cs season which commences this week.
"The club and the school have looked at possibilities regarding the staging of this fixture at Myreside, however there is no practical arrangement which will allow the change of use." Club president Morris Duncan indicated that with a view to a silverware sign-off Watsonians had prioritised to the extent of resting players from Saturday's Melrose sevens. "One of the reasons our team that went to Melrose did not contain some of those expected to be playing was because of our goal to win the Scottish Cup. That has greater priority than playing in a seven-a-side tournament," he said. Duncan acknowledged, though, that sevens have played a part in restoring to fitness Watsonian play-maker Andy Skeen, who after a fortnight on the circuit, has now overcome knee ligament damage to be available to face former club Melrose.
• WATSONIANS, led by former Lions captain Gavin Hastings, won a four-team Edinburgh Accies veterans tournament at Raeburn Place yesterday to round off the host club's 150th anniversary celebrations. Also taking part were Inverleith and Broughton.
• EDINBURGH stand off Ally Warnock is set to quit the team at the end of this season and head south to join English national league club Doncaster Knights.
The full article contains 288 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
