Heriot’s to meet Melrose in BT Cup final

Heriot’s and Melrose will meet in the final of the BT Cup next month after winning their respective semi-finals in dramatic fashion yesterday. Heriot’s and Glasgow Hawks were tied at 10-10 come the end of extra time at Old Anniesland, with Phil Smith’s men going through to the final at BT Murrayfield on April 16, as the away team. Jack Steele and John Semple exchanged missed penalties early on for Hawks and Heriot’s before the visitor’s took the lead in the 31st minute, Ian Wilson crashing over after the forwards drove from the 10-metre line. Half-time: 0-5After the interval, Hawks levelled the scores through wing Robert Beattie, who was set free down the right wing by Steele after some effective interplay.Wilson received a yellow in the 60th minute and Hawks soon took advantage with a driving maul seeing Fin Gillies over in the left corner, giving Hawks the lead. With minutes on the clock, Heriot’s pressurised through Charlie Simpson, the wing gathering a loose ball inches from the try line to touchdown and force the game into extra time. Extra time played out, and it was Heriot’s who went through as a result of the away team rule. The teams…Glasgow Hawks: Sean Yacoubian; Robert Beattie, Brendan McGroarty CAPTAIN, David Milne, Kerr Gossman; Jack Steele, Paddy Boyer; Stephen Findlay, Jack Macfarlane, Gary Strain, Andrew Redmayne, Andrew Linton, Fin Gillies, Stephen Leckey, Andrew Hill. Replacements: Grant Stewart, Brendan Cullinane, Angus Neilson, Kenny Beattie, Max MacFarlane, Erlend Oag, Pierre Mounal. Heriot’s: John Semple; Glenn Bryce, Max Learmonth, Cameron Ferguson, Charlie Simpson; Gregor McNeish, Tom Wilson; Martin Bouab, Michael Liness, Struan Cessford, Russell Nimmo, Roan van Heerden, Jack Turley CAPTAIN, Ian Wilson, Jamie Syme. Replacements: Stewart Mustard, Murray McCallum, Chris Mulligan, Clarke Smith, Alex Henderson, Hugh Fraser, John Rae.  Melrose made it four wins in a row against Ayr, to win their BT Cup semi-final 20-13 at Millbrae.In a close game, Melrose looked to have more in their locker, not least from the way they kept the ball and applied pressure at the right time. A couple of penalties from Ayr in the opening two minutes allowed the visitors to advance rapidly to inside the home 22, and, with less than three minutes on the clock, Joe Helps had kicked Melrose in front.Ayr got themselves into the game and after a patient series of phases, lock Scott Sutherland deftly fed Craig Gossman for the winger to go over in the corner. Frazier Climo added the extras. Half-time: 7-3They stretched their lead through a second Climo penalty, while their stand-off also rattled a Melrose post with another penalty, but, Ayr’s advantage was lost when, on the half-hour, Will Bordill was yellow carded at a ruck. When a seven-man Ayr scrum was put into reverse gear by Melrose, before going down, referee Graeme Wells awarded the visitors a penalty try, which Helps converted to square the game at half-time.Ayr turned up the heat from the restart, Climo missed another penalty, then goaled another in 46 minutes to stretch the home side’s lead to 13-10.However, captain Ross Curle was yellow-carded minutes later and while he was off, Helps pulled the visitors level after an Ayr scrum offence.Helps missed a penalty chance to put his side ahead in 75 minutes, but, Melrose were now in control and after the Ayr defence had withstood a series of charges from their visitors, the dam broke in the 79th minute, with prop Nick Beavon crashing over at the posts to leave Helps with the simplest of conversions to secure Melrose’s BT Cup final spot.The teams…Ayr: Grant Anderson; Richard Dalgliesh, Ross Curle CAPTAIN, Danny McCluskey, Craig Gossman; Frazier Climo, David Armstrong; George Hunter, David Young, D’arcy Rae, Rob McAlpine, Scott Sutherland, Blair Macpherson, Will Bordill, Pete McCallum. Replacements: Stuart Fenwick, Javan Sebastian, Craig Stevenson, Andrew Dunlop, Jack Preston, Archie Russell, Junior Bulumakau.Melrose: Nyle Godsmark; Joe Helps, George Taylor, Andrew Nagel, Sam Pecquer,; Tom Galbraith, Bruce Colvine CAPTAIN, Jamie Bhatti, Richard Ferguson, Nicholas Beavon, James Head, Lewis Carmichael, Neil Irvine Hess, Grant Runciman, Graham Dodds. Replacements: George Turner, Ruaridh McLeod, Ewan McQuillan, Ally Millar, Ruaridh Knott, Murdo McAndrew, Richard Mill. Elsewhere in the BT competitions, Highland edged out North Berwick 25-24 to secure their place in the BT Shield final, where they will meet Carrick who overcame St Boswells 19-13 in the other semi-final. In the BT Bowl final, Millbrae and Aberdeen University will go head-to-head. Millbrae defeated Grangemouth Stags 14-3 and Aberdeen secured a 22-0 win over Earlston in their respective final four clashes. In the Sarah Beaney Cup, Murrayfield Wanderers and Hillhead Jordanhill are through to the final after Wandies overcame RHC Cougars and Hills defeated Ayr to book their place in the final.  Watsonians and Stirling County moved on to the final of the BT Women’s Plate and Howe Harlequins will face Glasgow University in the BT Women’s Bowl final. BT Cup Finals day: April 16 (BT Murrayfield)