HERIOT'S secured the opportunity to repeat their Scottish Cup success of 2003 with a display of power and pace that ultimately saw off a dogged JedForest side that emerged with massive credit.
Ultimately the visitors paid the price for their failure to capitalise on a blistering opening that should have yielded points. Having survived that whirlwind start, the Edinburgh side gradually raised the pace and ran in seven tries to book a place
at Murrayfield. The biggest crowd that Goldenacre has seen for some time – the final tally was close to 2,000 – enjoyed a fine spectacle with two sides committed to playing an enterprising brand of rugby.
However, those in the home contingent had to endure a difficult opening before the division one side eventually earned their place in the showdown with Melrose for the silverware.
The score was still blank after the first quarter, but cracks were appearing in a fully stretched Heriot's side. The boot of the wily stand off Clark Laidlaw repeatedly turned the home defenders and the calls from the Jed bench to exercise patience were heeded by the men in blue whose composure and confidence blossomed as the half progressed.
Their cause received a boost when the referee dispatched home winger Cammy Bruce for ten minutes on the sidelines after an outrageously late tackle on Jed full back Robert Hogg.
Roy McFarlane almost exploited the numerical advantage but, for the second time in the game, he was bundled into touch a few metres short of the line.
The relieving boot of Murray Strang gave Heriot's a brief respite and Garrett Noonan almost snatched a score after a lineout inside the Jed 22. It would have been an injustice. Yet there was a feeling that Jed could not maintain the grip on the game they had enjoyed in a scoreless first 25 minutes and the hosts gradually eased up a gear. And Heriot's duly struck on a rare sortie into opposition territory. Strang did the spadework, taking a pass from Graham Wilson and returing the favour despite the close attentions of two defenders before the scrum half sent Craig Simmonds thundering over and completed his involvement in the score by stroking over the conversion.
Jed made another fruitless attempt to breach a watertight home defence before being dealt another painful blow with a try that was clinically executed. Jim Thompson scythed through the Jed midfield and carried play to within 20 metres of the target before offloading to his fellow Scotland sevens international Chris Fusaro, who forced his way over for a score, which Wilson again converted.
With the momentum now firmly in their favour, Heriot's added to their tally within two minutes of the restart when Colin Goudie sent Tam McVie in for try number three and Wilson again converted.
That left the visitors with a seemingly impossible task and any flickering hopes were extinguished after 50 minutes. Both Noonan and Simmonds had been held up over the Jed line, but Teague made no mistake at the third attempt when he squeezed in at the corner, Wilson yet again adding the additional points.
To their credit, Jed battled back once more and secured the try that had eluded them during their spell in the ascendancy when Gary Hill sent Jamie McCraw in and Donald Grieve converted. But the visitors were powerless as Simmonds hammered his way over for a second time then Thompson sprinted over to leave Strang a simple conversion and Peter Eccles helped himself to try number seven.
Jed deservedly had the last word when Hogg grabbed a late converted try, but it was merely a final, defiant gesture.
Heriot's: C Goudie, M Teague, J Thompson, C Goodall, C Bruce, M Strang, G Wilson, B McNeil, N Meikle, W Blacklock, P Eccles, G Noonan, T McVie, C Fusaro, C Simmonds.
Jedforest: R Hogg, J McCraw, D Gobby, G Hill, R McFarlane, C Laidlaw, R Goodfellow, P Thomson, D Grieve, G Holborn, L Patton, N Cook, R Ferguson, B Graham, S Laidlaw.
Scorers: Heriot's – Tries: Simmonds (2), Fusaro, McVie, Teague, Thompson, Eccles. Cons, Wilson (4), Strang (2). Jedforest – Tries: McCraw, Hogg. Con, Grieve (2).
Referee: D Changleng (Gala)
The full article contains 706 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
