Heriot-Watt's it all about?

How’s the season been so far?
The season started off excellently with a 5-0 win at home to Strathclyde in the opening game of the season. Things went from strength to strength with wins away to Glasgow Uni and most importantly a 1-0 win away to Edinburgh Uni. As well as a great start to the SUS league, we also had a great start in BUCS when we picked up the University’s first win in the British Championship in over 6 years against Lancaster Uni at Riccarton. A win away to northern premier section side Northumbria Uni continued our good form before our bogey team Edinburgh Uni 2s put a stop to our winning streak with a 1-1 draw at Riccarton. The bad weather forced us to have a longer break than expected and this was to be our downfall when we started slow in our first game back against BUCs champions Loughborough conceding 2 goals in the first 10 minutes. Although we came back strong, the game finished 2-1 to the visitors. This result put a bit of a downer on the team and we havn’t seemed to be able to bounce back yet. We drew games away to Strathclyde and Edinburgh Uni 2s and at home to Glasgow Uni which we really felt we should have won.

There’s one game coming up with a lot riding on it?
Yes, our final game against Edinburgh Uni will be our biggest challenge yet, a win for either team will see them crowned champions and a draw will leave Edinburgh Uni knowing that a win at home in their last game against Glasgow Uni will award them the title.

What were your expectations at the start of the season?
Before the season began we firmly expected to be challenging for the Queens Park Shield. With last year’s champions Stirling University moving up to the northern premier division and the fact that we only lost one player from our squad over summer, we felt that the SUS 1A title was ours for the taking. Maybe if we had been a bit more clinical in front of goal and had a little more concentration in defence then we would have this league wrapped up already but we have let Edinburgh Uni back into it and we will have to wait and see who takes the glory in next Wednesday's (16/3) “league final”.

Which was the standout game of the season?
Our highlight of the season was probably our 4-2 victory in Newcastle against Northumbria Uni. After going a goal behind at half time the whole squad showed great grit and determination to pull it back and go 3-1 ahead in the second half, with myself getting the equaliser before Gavin Malin, Ricky Burke and Aaron James on the score sheet. The game was also special to many players as it was the first time Heriot-Watt FC had won away in BUCS in a long time and it gave us belief that we could do something great this season.

Are there any areas to work on for next year?
As I mentioned before, our lack of composure in front of goal and concentration in defence have hurt us in the final part of our season and this is something head coach Michael Renwick and assistant coach Ross Campbell have been focusing on in training.
Our hope for the rest of the season is obviously to get a win at home to Edinburgh Uni on the 16th in which is sure to be the game of the season. We have also got ourselves into a relegation dogfight in our Saturday campaign in the East of Scotland League.

How did you arrive at the esteemed position of club captain?
Last year I was elected to sit on Heriot-Watt’s Sports Union Executive Committee as an Executive Officer and mainly for this reason I was elected by members of the football club to be the club captain for this season. This is my third year playing for the first team and I am currently this season’s leading goal scorer in both the Wednesday and Saturday campaigns and have been selected for this season’s Scottish Universities 24 man training squad.