East of Scotland: Heriot-Watt crave trophy for efforts

The students have enjoyed a remarkable East of Scotland League campaign so far this term and are just two points adrift of champions and leaders Leith Athletic – although Watt have played three games more.

Saturday’s 6-0 victory over Eyemouth United sealed a King Cup quarter-final showdown with city rivals Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale at Saughton Enclosure in just under a fortnight’s time. Banji Koya’s men are also away to Coldstream in a League Cup first-round tie next month.

And, Dowds insists he and his team-mates will be doing all they can to bring silverware back to the club’s base at Riccarton.

“After our performances these last few weeks we are capable of beating anyone in this league,” the 20-year-old said. “We’ve got a really good chance in the cups this season as they’re one-off games. We’ll still be giving it our all in the league but it is out of our hands at the moment.

“We’ve already beaten Lothian this season in the league so why can’t we do it in the cup? Obviously we’ll be away this time in a couple of weeks but we just need to show that bit more belief away from home.

“Last year we were at the bottom end of the table whereas this season we find ourselves battling amongst the top three. There’s a great feeling amongst the squad.”

Elsewhere, Leith are through to the last eight of the King Cup having crushed Ormiston 8-0 at Meadowbank 3G. They now host Peebles Rovers with a place in the last four up for grabs. And Tynecastle are through to the semi-finals having beaten Stirling University 5-1 at Saughton.