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Jan 3rd Melrose chalked up 10 tries including four from Jordan Macey and three by Callum Anderson, with James Lew, Alec Jessop and Richard Higgins also bagging five-pointers. Scott Wight landed seven conversions, while Jed's two tries came from David Gobby and Lewis Young, with Ewan Scott scoring a conversion.It was Jed's fifth straight defeat and one of their heaviest beatings in their history. Berwick gave Gala a real scare at Scremerston in their Border League Pool A match by coming back from 32-7 down to gain two bonus points with three late tries from Colin Young, Gareth Hill and Aaron Hall. In the end the big fightback wasn't quite enough as they went down 32-28 but it was a very pleasing display ahead of their big Scottish Cup clash next week at home to Perthshire. Colin Young put Berwick in front in the first half (converted by Matthew Hackett) after an early Craig Robertson try for Gala, but two further tries from Fraser Thomson and Graeme Speirs, plus a Dean Keddie penalty, gave the visitors an 18-7 advantage at the break. Gala wrapped up a try bonus point after the interval with two further tries from Thomson and Speirs, both converted by Keddie, before the grand finale from Berwick. Dick Paterson, a long serving member of the Gala club, came on to make his first ever appearance for the Maroons with five minutes to go to celebrate his 40th birthday, while Gareth Brown became the fifth member of the team to captain a Gala side this season. It was Gala's first win in eight games. You can see highlights of the game and post match interviews with Colin Young (Berwick) and Gala coach Richie Gray in this week's edition of Borders Rugby Roundup on Borders Rugby Television.
Dec 29th
Dec 27th
Dec 20th Melrose were beaten for the third time running and despite a fightback they went down by a point to Edinburgh Accies who now have a 10 point lead over 9th placed Stirling County, who lost heavily at leaders Ayr. Glasgow Hawks didn't play but it now looks like a three-way battle to avoid relegation between Hawks, Hawick and Stirling. Scott Wight scored 21 points with a try, four penalties and two conversions for Melrose with James Lew getting a try, but the 26-27 scoreline spoiled coach Craig Chalmers' Christmas, and afterwards he said that he hoped the result would also spoil his players' Christmas. "We lost these last three games by ourselves. The teams who beat us were no better than us. It was all down to us," he said. Selkirk's game at Myreside against Watsonians was postponed. In Premier 2 for the second week running we had no Borders wins. Kelso v Stew-Mel was a casualty of the weather, but at The Gytes Peebles were trying to defend their long-running 16 month home record against league leaders Dundee HSFP. On the hour they were 19-9 up and their opponents were down to 13 men through yellow cards and were on the ropes. A breakaway try against the run of play got Dundee back into it and they went on to win the match, robbing Peebles of a bonus point right at the end when Neil Warnock fumbled to let the visitors in. It was a big blow to Peebles but they played the better rugby for most of the match and scored tries from Neil Hogarth and David Paton as well as three penalties from Dan Boughtwood. They still have an outside chance of promotion but will need Stew-Mel to slip up in the run-in. Jed-Forest lost 18-10 at Haddington so failed to pick up any points once again. They scored a try through Gary Elder, with Seb Trotter converting and adding a penalty. Gala managed a four-try bonus point at Aberdeen Grammar but lost 37-27. Andy McLean, Graeme Speirs, Craig Robertson and Craig Hogg all crossed the whitewash with Bruce Dick kicking a penalty and two conversions. Langholm were not involved in the cup and Berwick had a bye so Hawick YM were the only National League side locally to play. They beat Hawick Harlequins 21-6 in Round 3 of the National Cup with two tries from Glen Douglas and Hamish Neish. Gregor Welsh scored three penalties and a conversion with Neil Renwick scoring two penalties for the Quins. In the delayed Round 2 game, St Boswells knocked out Edinburgh Northern 21-3, while in the first round of the Plate, Duns beat Gala YM 37-0 and Earlston won at Walkerburn 32-10. Liberton withdrew from their match against Hawick Linden sending the local team through to the next round.
Dec 19th
Dec 18th
Dec 16th
Dec 15th
Dec 14th
Dec 13th In Premier 2 it was bad news for the Borders with four losses. Peebles looked to have Musselburgh under control and lead for the whole match until 79 minutes on the clock. In a high scoring game they managed four tries for a bonus but still went down 37-35. Dan Boughtwood got a personal tally of 20 points with a try, three penalties and three conversions to increase his lead as top points scorer in the region, with Duncan MacDonald (2) and David Anderson crossing the line for the other tries. Two bonus points away from home gives Peebles a top three position in the table but they could have come away with the maximum five. Next week they hope to defend their unbeaten home record at The Gytes which stretches back to November 2007, but they'll have to beat table toppers Dundee HSFP who will be out to spoil the party. Gala could manage only a losing bonus point as they let the game slip away after two Bruce Dick penalties put them in control against Haddington at Netherdale. The visitors edged their way back in it with a couple of tries (one converted) to take the four points and send Gala down to eighth in the table. Before today's games one solitary point separated six teams, showing how tight it is in that league. Gala's last win was at Musselburgh back on November 1st and with four straight losses they will have to turn things round with their young team next week when they face Aberdeen Grammar at home. Jed-Forest had a very bad day. From the moment the bus was late everything seemed to go wrong at Inverleith against second placed Stewart's Melville. Despite two late tries from Scott Laidlaw - he's now Jed's joint top try scorer on five for the season - and a Seb Trotter conversion, Stew-Mel were too good and romped away with a five try haul to put them clear second in the table. It ended 33-12. Kelso were looking at their fourth win on the bounce when they led 13-8 into injury time thanks to a try, two penalties and a conversion from Kevin Utterson, who went over the 100 point mark today. But a late late GHA try out wide made it 13-13 with a Jim Noonan conversion getting the visitors the four points. In National League 1 both Berwick and Langholm had to sit it out again with their games being postponed, and next week they'll get no rugby either as Langholm are banned from the Cup competition following last year's indiscretion and Berwick have a bye - maybe the two teams should bring their own clash at Scremerston forward to next week to try and get some rugby played for the first time this month! Hawick YM took to the field though and got their first try bonus points of the season in 14 attempts. They beat Kilmarnock 32-7 at Mansfield Haugh to retain their third place in the table and are up to 54 points. Glynn Desport scored two and Lee Douglas and Scott McLeod got one apiece with Gregor Welsh scoring two penalties and three conversions. In East League 1 there were wins for all Borders teams. Hawick Harlequins warmed up for their cup game against Hawick YM next week with a 13-5 win at Broughton, Duns beat Dalkeith 27-0 and Hawick Linden made it 10 out of 10 at home to North Berwick, winning the match 33-12. In Division 2 Gala YM defeated Moray House 31-12 on the road while St Boswells smashed Walkerburn 77-0 away from home.
Dec 6th Melrose were looking for their eighth straight league win, but went further behind just after the break when a Simon Cross break down the centre of the park created space. He threw a long pass out to the left where Ross Armstrong was. It was a tricky ball to take but Armstrong gathered it up and dived over the line. But Callum Anderson gave the home side their first try on 49 minutes following an excellent cross-kick from Wight. Anderson scored right in the corner with Wight kicking the conversion. When Richard Higgins was sin-binned on the hour Selkirk kicked to touch from the penalty, won the resulting line-out and powered their way over the line with Rob Taylor coming up with the ball. Back came Melrose and Jordan Macey went on one of his trademark runs, fed fellow Australian James Lew, and Lew ran in by the posts. With Wight producing a faultless kicking performance all afternoon it set up an interesting final few minutes with just three points in it, but Selkirk held on for a memorable win which not only saw them break through the 40 points barrier for the season, but as this game doubled as a Border League match, it meant that Selkirk are well on their way to making the Border League Final again. With Stirling County winning at Heriot's it was good news for Selkirk as they closed the gap on the Edinburgh side, but bad news for Hawick as County moved seven points clear of them. Next week's game between Selkirk and Hawick should prove to be very interesting with Hawick desperate for points and Selkirk, still smarting from a 6 try massacre at Mansfield Park earlier in the season, trying to retain their unbeaten home record into 2009. In the only other local game played today, St Boswells beat Moray House 59-0 in East League Division 2.
Dec 1st
Nov 29th Meanwhile Selkirk managed to protect their 15 month unbeaten record at home once again with a 22-15 victory at Philiphaugh against Glasgow Hawks to secure a double over the Glaswegians. They scored three tries to 0 in the fog in a game which was not exactly a classic. Hawks ran Selkirk close with Iain Noble and Robbie Hair scoring four penalties and a drop goal between them to keep them in touch right to the end. At 15-15 with two minutes left on the clock Alex Dunbar, back from injury, crossed for a vital match-winning try, going in under the posts, but the Souters still had to defend for the final few minutes of injury time as if their lives depended on it to keep Hawks from scoring. They managed it with a mighty effort but it gave the Philiphaugh crowd yet another nail-biting finish. Earlier Scott Hendrie scored a try, converted by Mike McVie, who also bagged a penalty to go into the interval 10-9 up - Noble scoring three good penalties with the boot. It sets up an intriguing local derby next Saturday at The Greenyards between Melrose and Selkirk. Melrose will start as favourites thanks to their current form but it's a local derby and anything can happen, and probably will! Hawick were expected to go down at league leaders Ayr and they were overwhelmed 29-0 to go bottom of the table, thanks to Stirling County winning at home comfortably against Edinburgh Accies. Their cause wasn't helped by indiscipline. Colin Murray was red carded for strongly disputing an Ayr try while three yellow cards were handed out to Hawick players. Premier 2 for the first time this season has all four Borders sides in the top half of the table. With Jed-Forest's game at Biggar postponed due to a frozen pitch at Hartreemill, Stewart's Melville took advantage and slipped past them into second with a 27-7 at home to Gala, Gala's points coming from a Craig Parker try, which he converted. Peebles are 4th after another away win and a bonus point too. David and Donald Anderson scored tries along with David Paton and Steven Groat with Dan Boughtwood kicking two conversions and a penalty. Kelso are up to 6th after a win against GHA at Poynder Park by 19 pts to 8. They scored one try but it was a cracker. Mee Kaa Eel Hartley touched down for his 6th try of the season, with Kevin Utterson kicking the rest of the points. Langholm's match against RHC was postponed, but despite having played only nine games this season they are still up there in fourth place in National League Division 1. Berwick lost at Edinburgh University 24-11 and still cannot find that elusive win away from home. Mark Laidlaw scored their only try with Matthew McCreath kicking two penalties. In Division 2 Hawick YM won for the 12th time this season yet are still in third place due to the fact that they have found it hard to get bonus points. They have only one to their name this season so far compared with table toppers Whitecraigs who have eight and Linlithgow who have three but they still are the most successful Borders core side at the moment with 49 points amassed this season with just one defeat. On Saturday they beat Newton Stewart 12-0 at Mansfield Haugh with a try each from Dean McCracken and Lee Armstrong and a McCracken conversion. All East League Division 1 games involving Borders sides were victims of the weather but in Division 2 Earlston beat Moray House 5-3 to stay top of the league on 41 points. St Boswells are in second following their 22-0 win at home to Inverleith and now have 33 points.
Nov 28th In Round 4 of the Bell Lawrie Under 15 Cup Galashiels Academy are at home to either Banchory Academy or Kinross High School, while Selkirk High School have a tough away draw at George Watson's College. In the Plate Langholm Academy will host the winners of the Dingwall/Highlanders game and Kelso High will face Strathallan on the road. The Bowl sees Jedburgh High School also playing away at either Ellon Academy or Nicolson Institute.
Nov 26th
Nov 26th In the Plate competition, scheduled for December 20th also, Dunbar will face the losers of that St Boswells match (and will therefore be played at a later date), Duns will face Gala YM, Walkerburn are at home to Earlston and Hawick Linden travel to Liberton. Round 4 will see the big clubs enter the competition on January 10th. Whoever wins the Hawick local derby will have a home tie against Stewart's Melville. If St Boswells win their game against Edinburgh Northern and then beat Linlithgow they will have a home tie against Boroughmuir - a great incentive for the club. All Premier clubs will travel and here's the Border ties...
Berwick v Perthshire
Nov 24th
Nov 23rd
Nov 22nd In Premier 2 the best result from a local team was a draw at The Gytes where Peebles held on to their unbeaten record at home to share the spoils with Stewart's Melville 16-16. Neil Clark scored Peebles' only try which was converted by Dan Boughtwood who was on target with three penalties. Jed-Forest lost 24-7 to table toppers Dundee HSFP who continued their habit of beating Borders teams to do the double over Jed and inflict their first home defeat on them at Riverside Park this season. Greg Walker scored a try converted by Chris Richards to give Jed the perfect start but Dundee dominated the rest of the half and when John Henderson was yellow carded the visitors took advantage. They scored two converted tries and a penalty to lead 17-7 at the break. Jed dominated with wind advantage for the first half hour of the second period but somehow couldn't get the try they deserved. High School wrapped things up ten minutes from time with a further converted try to take the game. Jed once again saw points going begging with three missed penalties which didn't help their cause but they still remain second in the league. Scrum Half Ross Goodfellow, playing his 200th game for Jed, said afterwards that he felt Dundee were home and dry for the title and all the others were chasing that one remaining place. On Friday night Gala lost 19-6 at home to Biggar - their second consecutive home defeat - and despite the fact that Biggar's final two tries should not have been allowed Gala really didn't deserve to win this one. In the National League the Borders sides faired much better, winning all three of their encounters. Langholm, who have still only completed nine of their 12 games so far have still managed to get to the top three of the table. They won at home against Dalziel 16-10 with tries from Craig Hislop and Colin Jardine and a couple of Niall Cubbon penalties. Local rivals Berwick did Langholm a big favour in turning over second placed Dumfries 12-8 at Scremerston to get back to winning ways with four penalties from Matthew McCreath doing the damage and keeping Berwick seventh. In National League 2 Hawick YM won at Forrester FP 19-16 to keep in third place.
The Scottish Cup Round 2
local
derby was won by Hawick Harlequins who travelled the short distance
to take on their neighbours Hawick Linden. It ended 20-5, with
Linden being defeated in a competitive match for the first time this
season. Duns lost 13-10 at home to Portobello in the other match
involving a local team in the competition.
Nov 18th
Rory Hutton and Graham Hogg of Hawick have been selected for the
Scotland 7s squad in the first two legs of the IRB World 7s Series
in Dubai and South Africa. You can see an interview with both
players on the Hawick Rugby TV page, plus a chat with ex Gala
flanker Roddy Grant who will captain the squad following the broken
leg of previous skipper Scott Forrest (formerly of Hawick) which
happened while playing in a match for Ayr.
Nov 16th
Gavin Craig, playing at centre for the
first time this season, was the star of the show with a hat trick of
tries taking him up to five for the season, while Fraser Harkness
crossed the line also. Mike Rutherford, returning from injury, was
goal kicker for the afternoon, playing at fly half and landed two
conversions and two penalties.
The only other game involving local
teams this weekend saw Melrose beat Berwick 57-0 at Scremerston in
the Border League. Player/Coach John Dalziel stated his intent that
Melrose are out to win the trophy away from Selkirk this season,
pouring scorn on any suggestions that the club would not be making
this league a priority, which was music to the ears of the Border
League committee and the sponsors BSPC who have put a lot of money
into promoting the Border League.
Nov 7th There were
three wins out of four for Borders clubs in Premier 2.
Jed-Forest scored five tries from Scott Laidlaw, Jamie McCraw,
Ross Goodfellow, Paul Pringle (on his first start for nearly two
years for the club following injury) and Gary Holborn for a well
deserved bonus point against Musselburgh, winning 29-10, to stay
in second place. Leaders Dundee HSFP were the only side to
defeat a Borders core team this weekend when they beat Gala at
Netherdale 25-16, so they stay top. Gala's only try was from
David Marshall with Gary Parker kicking the rest of their
points. Kelso won on the road at Haddington
22-11 thanks largely to the boot of captain Kevin Utterson with
five penalties and a conversion of Me Kaa Eel Hartley's try.
This match doubled as a Border League fixture so Kelso top that
pool with a win and a draw, but more importantly they lift
themselves up into ninth place. Peebles won away from home for
the first time this season, and it was a convincing victory too,
against Hamilton by 33-16, scoring four tries (from Donald
Anderson, David Paton, James Oakes and Duncan MacDonald) to take the
game with a bonus point. In National
League 1 Langholm's game against Howe Of Fife was postponed due
to a waterlogged pitch - their third postponed game of the
season so far - but Berwick remain
undefeated at home with a 7-7 draw against Murrayfield Wanderers
at Scremerston. Lee Douglas scored Berwick's try which was
converted by Matthew Hackett. Hawick YM bagged their tenth win in 11 games on
the road at Caithness to stay third in Division 2. They won
27-11 with tries from Lee Armstrong, Ross Gibson and Jamie
Tinlin. Dean McCracken was in fine form, kicking all three
conversions and adding two penalties. Also in that league bottom
club Newton Stewart beat top of the table Whitecraigs in the
shock of the day, so YM have closed the gap.
In the Scottish Cup First Round Hawick Linden demolished
Earlston 63-0 with 11 tries, including five from
the Bouglas Brothers. Stephen got a
hat-trick and Greg managed two. Darrel Gray and Craig Black both
ran in a brace of tries. Hawick Harlequins won 27-10 at
Edinburgh BATS to progress to Round 2, Duns won at Dunbar 21-9
to complete a double over them having beaten them in the league
two weeks ago, but Gala YM went down to Portobello at home 16-3
to complete a disappointing weekend for Gala's top two sides.
Walkerburn went out of the cup losing away at North Berwick 54-9
while St Boswells' game against RDVC was postponed. Nov 1st The Premier 2 derby between Kelso and
Jed-Forest was won by Kelso. They bounced back from their
nilling the week before against Gala to win 20-14 with Stuart
Lowrie and Kevin Utterson try scorers. Utterson also scored two
conversions and two penalties to boost his points total for the
season to 66. Greg Walker bagged himself a try for Jed to
take him to four for the season, with Chris Richards kicking
three penalties. Gala won by a point at Musselburgh to
buck the trend of losing by a point, which they have done twice
this season. Tim Miskelly scored the Maroon's only try with
Craig Parker adding a penalty and Dean Keddie scoring a drop
goal. Peebles protected their own long-running 13 month
old home record with a narrow win at The Gytes against Aberdeen
Grammar 19-16 with Donald Sangster touching down for a try with
the reliable Dan Boughtwood claiming four penalties and a
conversion to go up to 96 for the season. In
National League 1 Berwick lost 21-9 at East Kilbride to continue
a quirky streak of results which reads LWLWLWLWL. On this form
they should win next week against Murrayfield at home! Langholm
got back to winning ways on the road at Edinburgh University,
taking the game 24-14, while in Division 2 Hawick YM beat
Hillfoots 24-0 to retain their third place in the league.
In East League 1, Hawick Linden remain unbeaten with a
comfortable 37-7 home win against Broughton and remain top.
Hawick Harlequins beat Duns 17-12 in the local derby, while in
the 2nd Division, Earlston still top the table with a 21-3 win
against Inverleith. St Boswells destroyed Leith 49-14 and
Walkerburn went down at Moray House 48-7. Gala YM's game against
Edinburgh Northern was postponed. Oct 28th Listed as a hooker on the Hawick website, Greg is more at home as a prop, and Jed coach Calum Brown is delighted to have him available to the club although he told me that it is unlikely he will go straight into the squad for the local derby against Kelso this weekend; he could be unveiled though for the home match against Musselburgh on November 8th. The fact that Hawick's President's son will be turning out for another club is bound to raise a few eyebrows and provoke some friendly banter but at the end of the day if a player wants to play Premiership rugby and there are opportunities elsewhere it makes perfect sense. Oct 25th In Premier 2 the local derby at Netherdale was between Gala and Kelso, with the wind and rain playing a big part in the proceedings. Gala played the conditions the better of the two and when they turned round 6-0 up at the break thanks to a couple of Craig Parker penalty goals, their tails were up. They then proceeded to use the wind to their advantage with Dean Keddie putting in some good kicks to the corner, playing the territory game. On 51 minutes Gala's try came with Michael Howes winning a line-out and handing the ball to Malcolm Horsburgh who drove his way over the line for his third try of the season. Parker converted well from the touchline and later added a penalty to seal it for the Maroons who were delighted to nil Kelso. Kelso had never scored less than 19 points in a game this season so they were bitterly disappointed to go home with nothing to show for their efforts. Jed-Forest took full advantage of leaders Dundee slipping up at Stew-Mel to get back to winning ways at home to GHA. They won 16-11 but it was another tight game, with Chris Richards turning round an 11-10 deficit with two late penalties. He scored another penalty earlier and converted Scott Laidlaw's try. They remain unbeaten at home. Meanwhile Peebles still cannot win away from home. They lost 19-0 at Haddington. In National League 1, both Berwick and Langholm had their games postponed, but in National League 2 it looks odds-on that Hawick YM would retain their unbeaten record with a straight ninth win after they raced to a 16-0 lead. But with the elements in their favour in the second half league leaders Whitecraigs fought back to score 21 unanswered points to take the victory. YM scored one try from Glyn Desport with Gregor Welsh scoring three penalties and a conversion. In The East League 1, Hawick Linden are now the only unbeaten team in the Borders after winning 16-5 at home to Portobello to stay top of the division. Duns beat Dunbar on the road 31-12 while Hawick Harlequins beat Dalkeith 20-5. In the East 2nd Division, Earlston remain top with a victory at home to Leith (27-0), Gala YM scraped home 5-3 at home to RDVC, and Walkerburn went down at home to Inverleith 29-7 with St Boswells' game against Edinburgh Northern postponed. Oct 24th
Oct 20th Oct 20th
Oct 18th Hawick's win at home to Glasgow Hawks was a vital one for the Greens and coach Jim Hay was delighted that his side scored a try-bonus point with four from David Lowrie, Steven Anderson, Colin Murray and Graham Hogg to go with a penalty from Ally Weir. They won 23-16 which leap-frogs them into 10th place in the table above Hawks. Next week Hawick go to the Greenyards for a derby against Melrose. Selkirk visited West Of Scotland, who had smashed Stirling County at Bridgehaugh the previous week. In the end Selkirk's 17 points courtesy of two tries from Ben Meyer and Alex Dunbar, a penalty and two conversions from David Cassidy, wasn't enough as the Souters went down 29-17 and dropped a place in the table to sixth, They travel next week to Stirling County in a game which they will be targeting as a must-win to help their campaign of staying in Premier 1 for at least another season. In Premier 2 the local match between Peebles (unbeaten in the league at home since September 2007) and Jed-Forest (unbeaten in six matches) went to Peebles with five Dan Boughtwood penalties doing the damage for the home side. Jed scored the only try of the game through Robert Ferguson, with his third of the season, but Jed's lack of a quality goal-kicker at the moment didn't help their cause. Chris Laidlaw slotted a penalty early in the match but it ended 15-8, with Jed going home with a bonus point. Peebles travel to Haddington next Saturday looking for their first away win of the season, while Jed will re-group in readiness for their home match against GHA, who beat Gala 33-23. Gala managed two tries from Bruce Dick and Euan Dods, with Craig Parker converting both of them as well as scoring two penalties. Dick dropped a goal. Gala will play Kelso at Netherdale next Saturday, and Kelso got their first home win of the season with a 19-13 victory over Biggar. Michael Tait crossed for his seventh try of the season, with Gary Mulroy also crossing the whitewash. Kevin Utterson bagged three penalties to take him past 50 points for the season. Moving into the National League Division 1, and after Langholm's impressive win at home to Berwick last week, they couldn't repeat the form for their away game played at Inverleith Park against Murrayfield Wanderers. They went down 39-10, with all of the Langholm points scored by Niall Cubbon with a try, penalty and conversion. Next week they welcome Dalziel to Milntown. Better luck for Berwick. They won with a bonus point at home to Preston Lodge by 26-6. The four tries were scored by Grant Younger, Gareth Hill, Lee Douglas and James Patterson with Matthew Hackett kicking three of the conversions. Hawick YM march on with an eighth straight win, but found it difficult once again to score any tries. They edged out Greenock Wanderers 9-6 with two Barry Hill penalties and one from the returning Dean McCracken to secure the four points. Next week it will be the big crunch game at home to table-toppers Whitecraigs who have lost this season already but have 7 bonus points whereas YM have none. In the East League Division 1 all three Borders teams won. Duns defeated Broughton 20-12 at home, while Hawick Harlequins won 22-20 at Penicuik and Hawick Linden completed their seventh win out of seven with a convincing 35-16 win on the road at Meggetland keeping them clear at the top of the table. Mixed fortunes for local sides in Division 2 of the East League. Gala YM won at Edinburgh BATS 12-5 while Earlston go top of the table with an away win over previous leaders Edinburgh Northern 18-16. But Walkerburn were beaten heavily at Leith 57-3 and St Boswells went down at RDVC 22-7.
Oct 15th Oct 11th Melrose collected their second away win of the season at Glasgow Hawks, taking the game 25-21, with three tries from Jordan Macey (2) and Scott McCormick. Scott Wight kicked the other ten points with two penalties and two conversions. Hawick managed two tries this week but still failed to get an elusive away win. Steven Anderson and John Coutts were the try scorers, with Rory Hutton kicking four penalties and a conversion in their 41-24 loss at Currie. Selkirk are fifth in the table on 22 points, but have the same amount as the third and fourth placed teams. Melrose climb to 9th with Hawick 11th. In Premier 2 Gala won the local derby against Peebles 19-13 in a hard-fought match at Netherdale. With several injury problems during the game the Maroons had to swap positions drastically but pulled the win out of the bag, scoring two tries from Gareth Brown and Craig Parker. Parker kicked two penalties and a drop goal for a personal tally of 14 for the match, while Craig Hunter scored Peebles' only try - Dan Boughtwood converting it and landing two penalties. Jed-Forest go marching on, and in convincing style too at Riverside Park in their new gold jerseys. They managed six tries this afternoon - five coming in the second half - to defeat Hamilton 37-11. Robert Hogg, David Grieve, Marti Hastie, Gary Elder, Seb Trotter and Robert Ferguson all got on the score sheet while Chris Laidlaw bagged two conversions and a penalty. Jed are second on 27 points behind Dundee HSFP who beat Kelso 42-26, but once again Kelso managed a try scoring bonus point, with a four try haul from Mee Kaa Eel Hartley, Sean Common, Garret Walsh and Stuart Lowrie. Kevin Utterson scored three conversions. Gala are up to fourth in the table, Peebles are seventh and Kelso in ninth. In National League 1 the big Border derby between Langholm and Berwick ended with a convincing win by Langholm 29-6. Langholm took the game to their visitors from the start and ran in three tries by half time. Berwick never looked like breaking down the Langholm defence and had to settle for two penalties from Matthew Hackett as their sum for the day. Langholm's tries came from Keith Davidson, David Irvine, Alisdair Cavers and Steven Nicol, with his fifth of the season. Neil Cubbon kicked a penalty and three conversions to raise his total after six games to 43 points. Hawick YM's unbeaten record continued with a 9-0 home win against Glasgow Accies. Barry Hill scored three penalties. and interestingly enough, despite the fact that YM have only scored seven tries in their seven games so far, their defensive record is one of the best in the whole of the Premier and National League. Only 40 points have been scored against them. In the East League Division 1, another success story. Hawick Linden are also unbeaten with six wins out of six. They beat Duns 44-7 and top the table. Hawick Harlequins beat North Berwick 21-11 at home to go fifth. Duns are in sixth place. East League Division 2 saw all local sides win their games - the most remarkable being Walkerburn's win away at Edinburgh Northern. Up until today Walkerburn were on minus 4 points with no wins and a deduction of 4 points after they couldn't put a team out. They went away to the unbeaten league leaders and beat them 15-5! St Boswells are second after their home win against Edinburgh BATS (41-5), Earlston are in third following their victory over RDVC 36-0, and Gala YM won again at home to Liberton 48-8 and are now fifth.
Oct 4th
Oct 4th Selkirk couldn't stage one of their famous comebacks at Goldenacre but played some decent rugby in an entertaining fixture which saw the Nails run out 31-21 winners. The Souters managed three tries from captain Neil Darling, Fraser Harkness and Michael McVie, all converted by David Cassidy, while Hawick lost at home to Edinburgh Accies 11-16 after leading at half time. It was a match coach Jim Hay described as "terrible", but they were the only one of the three Border teams to get a point out of the afternoon - their fourth losing bonus point of the season. Keith Hedley scored Hawick's only try with Craig Neish adding two penalties. Selkirk are fourth, Melrose 9th and Hawick 10th. In Premier 2 Peebles were always in control at The Gytes against local rivals Biggar. This was their first competitive match since the 2000-01 season and despite the horrendous conditions the Peebles pack produced an awesome display and it was them who won it for their side 25-13 with two tries from Number 8 David Paton and one from prop Adam Clark. Dan Boughtwood kicked two penalties and two conversions to take his tally for the season to 59 points, the most scored by any Borderer this season. Jed-Forest came back for the second week running to take the game at Aberdeen. They were trailing 8-0 at the break but fought back with tries from Robert Hogg and Greg Walker. Chris Laidlaw converted one of the tries and kicked two penalties including the match winner right at the end of the game to win 18-16. That was their fifth win on the trot and they stay second in the league. Gala lost 21-20 at Hamilton, with Andy McLean and Scott Chapman scoring the Maroons' two tries and Bruce Dick kicking two penalties and two conversions. At Poynder Park the remarkable change of fortune for Musselburgh continued. After heavy defeats at the start of the season they turned that form round last week to hammer GHA and this week they raced to a 24-0 lead against Kelso before a comeback from the home side. But it was too late. Despite a four try bonus and a losing bonus, Kelso lost 24-30. Their tries came from Michael Tait, Mee Kaa Eel Hartley, Nathan Trotter and Darren Gillespie with two Kevin Utterson conversions completing their total. Gala are fifth, Peebles sixth and Kelso in ninth. Turning to the National League, and despite Langholm's match at Cambuslang being a victim of the weather, they still retain their fifth position, with Berwick climbing to seventh following a comfortable 37-8 victory over Annan at Scremerston. Their extra bonus point came from a four try haul by Lee Douglas (2), David Gilchrist and Matthew Hackett, who had a marvellous day with the boot also, kicking all four conversions and three penalties to give him 22 points - not bad for a day's work! He climbs to second in the Borders "Most Points" rankings list, only the second player to go over 50 points this season so far. It all sets up nicely the local derby next week at Milntown between Langholm and Berwick. More good news in National League 2 as Hawick YM won again - their sixth on the trot - with an 8-3 win at Highland. Half the team are well into their mid-30s while the other half are made up of teenagers, so a fine effort, but the clubs would no doubt love to get that elusive try bonus point which has not come their way yet this season. YM are second, behind unbeaten Whitecraigs, who have scored try bonuses in all but one of their games so far. In the East League Division 1 Hawick Linden are top of the table after they completed another victory to remain unbeaten. They beat Dalkeith on the road 44-0 while Duns beat Meggetland 17-0 and Hawick Harlequins were soundly beaten at Portobello 33-0. Division 2 saw St Boswells beat Liberton 26-16 away from home, Earlston win 35-3 at Edinburgh BATS and Walkerburn thankfully were able to fulfil this week's fixture at RDVC, but lost the game 38-5. Sep 30th The SRU confirmed that it is the Championship Committee (who are elected by the clubs themselves) who make the decisions, but also confirmed that it is up to the clubs to appeal any penalty they may be given. Malcolm said that as far as he was concerned he gave Liberton ample notice that they could not fulfil the fixture due to a large injury list but would be glad to play them later in the season. The suggestion to play the fixture with nine or ten players on the field was simply not an option, and no one wants to go down the road of a one-sided match which does nothing for the image of the game or the morale of the players. With Walkerburn's match on Saturday also postponed due to lack of players it is expected that a further four points will be deducted. It does seem harsh that a club, already struggling to survive in their centenary season, should be kicked while they are down, and it is hoped that a solution can be found to this problem so that a more helpful and sympathetic attitude can be adopted in the future for scenarios such as this one.
Sep 27th Selkirk's unbeaten run at home, stretching back to September 1st 2007, looked as if it was going to end as Watsonians swept to a 28-15 lead at half time, scoring four tries in the process. But that incredible spirit within the team staged yet another fightback and they nilled 'Sonians in the second half, scoring 17 points themselves to get a try bonus of their own to snatch the game 32-28, with Scott Tomlinson, Gavin Craig, Sean Crombie and Scott Hendrie all crossing the whitewash, with Ross Armstrong bagging two conversions and a penalty, with Mike McVie scoring a conversion himself. With 30 minutes to the start of the game Selkirk, who were already missing the influential Fraser Harkness, were dealt a further blow with the late withdrawal of goal-kicking specialist David Cassidy following an accident at work earlier in the day. The result for Selkirk was even more amazing as it followed last week's heavy defeat at Hawick. Hawick themselves were hoping to win on the road at Meggetland as they took on champions Boroughmuir but they just fell short, losing 21-17 but collecting yet another bonus point. Melrose won away for the first time this season at Edinburgh Accies by 20-13. Selkirk are 5th on 18 points, with Melrose over-taking Hawick to go ninth in the table. In Premier 2 there was more drama as Jed-Forest came from behind at home to Haddington to stage a comeback which stunned the former leaders to win 29-26 with a bonus try count; while at Netherdale Gala also were well down before getting their first home win of the season against Aberdeen 26-24 in a thrilling finale which saw the visitors pushing a simple penalty wide at the death. Kelso got their first win of the season, and had to travel to Inverleith to get it. They beat Stewart's-Melville 29-25 to get that particular monkey off their backs, while Peebles - missing key players - went down at Dundee HSFP by 31 points to 15. Jed are now in 2nd spot with Gala 4th, Peebles 7th and Kelso in ninth. In National League 1 Langholm hit Preston Lodge hard, scoring 11 tries in their 65-3 home win. Steven Nicol scored the first border hat-trick of the season. Berwick weren't quite so lucky, going down on the road 18-17 at RHC, but Hawick YM, in Division 2, are one of two unbeaten Borders sides, winning 25-12 at home to Linlithgow. YM are second in the league and remarkably have achieved this without any try bonus points. In the Eastern League Division 1 Hawick Linden protected their own unbeaten record with four out of four wins, this time beating Penicuik 50-8. Hawick Harlequins lost at Dunbar 31-23 while Duns picked up another win against Portonello 22-17. East League Division 2 saw St Boswells lose their unbeaten record at home to Gala YM, by 30 points to 7, while Earlston disposed of Liberton 21-7. Walkerburn's match against Edinburgh BATs was postponed with Walkerburn failing once again to field a team, something they were penalised 4 points for last week.
Sep 25th "Following my retirement I wanted to concentrate on passing on my experience," said Stevie. "It was only towards the end of my career that I started to think about the principles of lineout throwing, which is a big part of a hooker's job. The new ELVs are possibly putting a greater focus on the hooker hitting the jumper in the lineout at maximum height and we're working hard on hookers becoming more accurate," he added.
Sep 20th Melrose managed a bonus point at home to Boroughmuir, losing 27-20, and while coach Craig Chalmers acknowledged it was an improvement on their match against Selkirk, it was still not the performance we know Melrose can produce. Callum Anderson and Dougie Dodds scored tries for Melrose, with Scott Wight collecting two conversions and two penalties. In Premier 2 Jed-Forest produced their best result of the season, winning 34-18 against Stew-Mel who had previously beaten Gala and Peebles. Jed's five-try haul from Robert Hogg (2), Gary Hill, Robert Ferguson and Greg Walker looked great on paper but they still didn't fire on all cylinders, so when they do get it all together, Jed are going to be a real force in this league. Donald Grieve scored two conversions while Chris Richards landed a panalty and conversion. Gala got a good win at Haddington, handing the Lothian team their first defeat of the season. It ended 23-18 with Gala's points coming from a try each by Malcolm Horsburgh and David Marshall, with Bruce Dick kicking two conversions and three penalties. Kelso lost at GHA 27-21 but collected a losing bonus point. Kevin Utterson converted all Kelso's three tries from Mee Kaa Eel Hartley, Darren Gillespie and Nathan Trotter. In the other match involving a Borders team, Peebles comfortably took the scalp of bottom team Musselburgh at The Gytes, winning 41-0 with Dan Boughtwood converting three of the seven tries which were scored by Alan Smellie (2), Craig Hunter (2), Adam Moffat, Neil Hogarth and Donald Sangster. Hats off to Langholm and Berwick who won their matches in NL1. Berwick took the unbeaten record of Dalziel (25-17), scoring three tries from James Patterson, Gareth Hill and Matthew McCreath, with Matthew Hackett kicking two penalties and two conversions. Langholm scored a try bonus in beating East Kilbride 34-17. Their tries were collected by Steven Jardine, Keith Davidson, Bob Lamb and Steve Nicol. Captain Niall Cubbon kicked all four conversions and added a penalty for a personal haul of 11 points from the boot. In NL2 Hawick YM, against all odds due to sending a weakened team to Kilmarnock, retained their unbeaten record thanks to a 12-5 win, with Barry Hill landing four penalties. YM now join St Boswells and Hawick Linden as the only three unbeaten Borders sides. St Boswells didn't play on Saturday, but Hawick Linden won 38-13 at North Berwick in East League Division 1. Also in that division Duns won away at Dalkeith (21-7) while Hawick Harlequins defeated Broughton at home 35-5. In East League 2 Earlston beat Gala YM 16-13 on the road while Walkerburn's game at Liberton was postponed.
Sep 13th In Premier Division 2 there were two local derbies and both were close. Gala lost at home 17-18 to Jed-Forest while Peebles and Kelso shared the spoils at Poynder Park with a 21-21 draw. In National League 1 Langholm narrowly failed to win at Annan, going down 9-8, while Berwick gained a bonus point at Howe Of Fife, losing 22-17. Hawick YM continued their winning start to the season, beating Stewartry 14-7 and are now in third place. Eastern League Division 1's local derby saw Hawick Linden get the better of Hawick Harlequins 21-14 while Duns lost 11-15 at home to Penicuik. In Division 2 the two derbies ended with wins for an unbeaten St Boswells at Earlston (19-14) and Gala YM comfortably beat Walkerburn on the road 36-3.
Pro Players submitted to local clubs Hawick - Matt Dey (Centre), Opeta Palepoi (Lock), Calum MacRae (Utility Back), Chris Paterson (Utility Back), Matt Mustchin (Lock/Flanker) and Dan Parks (Stand Off). Melrose - Scott Newlands (Flanker), Geoff Cross (Prop), Mark Robertson (Wing), Kelly Brown (Back Row), Kevin Tkachuk (Prop) and Tim Barker (Lock).
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