|
Feb 27th The game also served as a Border League Pool A game and it means Melrose join Peebles at the top of the table, knowing that a win against Gala will probably secure a place in the final at The Greenyards in April, although Melrose President Mike Dalgetty conceded that their two remaining games against Gala and Berwick which are due to be played at home, may have to be switched to away games if they cannot fit their fixtures in at The Greenyards, one of the problems of not having floodlights at Melrose.
Peebles were very much the dominant side in the first half of the game, taking advantage of numerous Melrose handling errors, and enjoying a fair percentage of ball to go into the break 9-3 up, but it was the second period which saw Melrose start to dominate up front and ultimately control the game. Peebles' scrum were going backwards and despite the best efforts of James Oakes at No.8, they were starved of useful ball. Scott Wight took advantage of the penalty count to win the match with the boot, but not before Melrose survived some late scares when Peebles managed to use some rare possession to good effect. Warnock also had opportunities to draw the game with a couple of late penalty attempts but it's Melrose who are on track for a third consecutive appearance at Murrayfield. Only three other local teams played due to the weather wiping out most of the games in Scotland. In the National League Division 1 Langholm could only get a losing bonus point against bottom team Annan. They lost a low scoring match 9-6, while in East League 2 Walkerburn beat St Boswells 30-14 in the local derby.
Feb 25th
Feb 24th
Feb 23rd "Livingston never told us they were appealing against the decision by the Championship Committee and the Appeals Panel never even told us. It seems strange that the club affected by the appeal (in this case Langholm) has no say in it or even be told about it."
Feb 22nd Team: 15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Simon Danielli, 13 Max Evans, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Chris Cusiter (c) 1 Allan Jacobsen, 2 Ross Ford, 3 Euan Murray, 4 Jim Hamilton, 5 Alastair Kellock, 6 Kelly Brown, 7 John Barclay, 8 Johnnie Beattie. Subs: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Alasdair Dickinson, 18 Nathan Hines, 19 Alasdair Strockosch, 20 Mike Blair, 21 Phil Godman, 22 Nick De Luca.
Feb 21st
Feb 20th
For Peebles their two tries came from James Oakes and Dale Clancy, with Neil Warnock successful with two penalties and two conversions. The game saw Hawick skipper Kevin Reid set a new appearance record for Hawick - it was his 416th game for the Greens.
Pictures: Kenny Baillie, Hawick RFC Kelso thumped bottom club Dunfermline on the road 45-10 to ease their relegation worries and took a bonus point too with a five try haul. Gregg Minto and Andy Tait both scored a couple with Gareth Riddle getting a fifth. Greg Ponton had a fantastic day with the boot, kicking four conversions and four penalties for a personal tally of 20. With Haddington losing at Stirling County it is now them and Jedforest who are fighting it out to stay up although Kelso are far from out of the woods and of course they play Jedforest at Riverside Park on Friday night in what will be a huge encounter between the two neighbouring Border clubs - not a game to be missed for sheer intensity! Jed struggled again on the road with a 34-17 defeat at Kirkcaldy. They gifted the Fife team several points including two interception tries and came away with nothing. Their two tries were scored by Lewis Young and Grant Stewart with Chris Laidlaw kicking two conversions and one drop goal. In the other Premier 2 game involving local sides, Gala beat GHA 15-13 with their two tries coming from Lee Miller and Mike Christie, Gregor Hunter kicked a penalty and a conversion. In Premier 1 not so good news for the two Borders sides. Melrose managed two bonus points but lost to Boroughmuir at Meggetland 32-26. Jamie Murray, Brodie Runciman, Callum Anderson and Ben Allen were the try scorers for 'Rose while Scott Wight bagged three conversions to extend his lead as top points scorer in the region. Selkirk went down 44-20 at Goldenacre against Heriot's with Rory Aglen and Gavin Craig touching down for the Souters' only two tries. David Cassidy landed two penalties and two conversions for Selkirk's other points.
National League 1 saw good news for both Borders teams. Berwick won at home ti Ellon by 20-7 scoring two tries from Gareth Hill and Richard Hume with Matthew McCreath accumulating the rest with two conversions and a two penalty goals. It was a much-needed victory for Berwick but their rivals Langholm extended their lead over Berwick with a bonus point win at Murrayfield Wanderers. They did it the hard way too coming from 17-3 behind at half time and one man down to win a sensational match 37-17. They racked up six tries in all with Steven Jardine getting a hat trick, Ricky Kiori a brace and Stuart Graham the other. Colin Jardine scored two conversions and a penalty and Division 1 survival is looking good for the Milntown men at the expense of Berwick. In National League 2 Hawick YM went down away at Preston Lodge 15-9 with Gregor Welsh kicking three penalties. One division below Hawick Linden won at home against Trinity Accies 22-11 with a four try bonus coming from Brian Wear, Steve Bouglas and a double from Graham Colville. Barry Sutherland kicked one of the conversions. In East League 1 the game between Duns and Dunbar was a victim of the weather while Earlston won at home 12-8 against Broughton. Hawick Harlequins won a low scoring match at Edinburgh Northern by 3 points to nil. Onto East League 2 and Gala YM continued their impressive season with a 67-7 rout of RDVC. Walkerburn smashed Queensferry 52-20 for their first back-to-back victories of the season, while St Boswells went down to Moray House 48-10 at home.
Feb 18th
Gala Head Coach George Graham has been handed a two match ban following verbal abuse of the referee during the game between Stirling County and Gala at Bridgehaugh in December. He will not be allowed to stand pitchside for this Saturday's game against GHA or against Biggar on March 6th at Hartreemill. He has the right to appeal within seven days. Ironically Graham has impressed on his squad the importance of discipline on the field and this has led to Gala having one of the best records in Scotland for discipline, receiving very few yellow cards this season.
Feb 16th
the cold to model a body-painted version of the new strip. Pictures: Rob Gray, DigitalPic
Feb 15th In the Shield, with Langholm withdrawing, the Borders' only representation comes from Berwick who have been drawn away to the winners of the game between Murrayfield Wanderers and Forrester. Round 3 of the Bowl will see the only local derby between Hawick Harlequins and Duns while Earlston are still in the hat, and if they beat Dunbar in their still-to-be-played Round 2 tie on 27th February, they will have a home draw against North Berwick. The Bowl matches will be played on March 6th.
SCOTTISH HYDRO PREMIER CUP ROUND 2 DRAW 2009/10
Feb 14th
Feb 14th Langholm are still waiting to hear whether or not they will have to play their game against Livingston again. The match was abandoned two minutes short of the 60 minutes mark when results of games would normally stand. They won their appeal but since then a counter appeal by Livingston has been looked at favourably and the whole situation has developed into a farce. Langholm would have benefited from five valuable points as they had scored a try bonus to comfortably lead that game by the time of the abandonment. More news on this when we get it. Meanwhile in Hawick, three of the local clubs - Harlequins, Linden and YM - have had talks about the future of rugby in Hawick. It is clear that all are struggling to field teams week-in and week-out and there is a proposal on the table that an amalgamated team from all three could be the answer. Nothing is set in stone but there is likely to be a development in this sooner rather than later.
Feb 13th Earlier Scotland, despite not winning the territory statistic, played superbly, defending well and even scoring two early tries from Max Evans and John Barclay. Kelly Brown, the former Earlston School pupil, thought he had scored another which would have probably given Scotland a lead which Wales would not ave come back from, but play was brought back. Although Dan Parks was voted Man of the Match, many would have put Brown and Johnnie Beattie near the top of the list as contenders. Gala's Chris Paterson won his 100th cap but had to go off early in the first half injured. The other bad news was the fact that Thom Evans was stretchered off with a neck injury. We all wish him well. He has been detained in hospital overnight and has had surgery. Team doctor James Robson said: "He is moving his arms and legs and we are hoping for a speedy recovery." For Scotland it should have been a rare victory but the importance of not giving away penalties and keeping all your players on the pitch was never more evident. Locally Hawick nearly pulled off a shock Cup win at Malleny Park against Premier 1 table toppers Currie. They lost in a dramatic game by 25-22 with Hue Scammell, Greg Anderson and a penalty try making up their three tries with Graham Hogg kicking two conversions and a penalty. Also in the Scottish Hydro Premier Cup Round 1 Gala beat Dunfermline 31-3 on the road, picking up four tries all scored by their forwards, namely Opeta Palepoi, Chris Weir, Alan Johnston and Mike Christie. Graham Speirs was on form with the boot, landing all four conversions and a penalty.
in their Scottish Premier Cup clash against Currie. Pictures: Kenny Baillie, Hawick RFC Melrose lost 20-18 at West of Scotland in Premier 1 at Burnbrae, coming away with a losing bonus point only for their efforts. Scott Wight extended his lead as Borders top points scorer, kicking two penalties and a conversion. Their two tries came from Allan Dodds and Callum Anderson. In the re-arranged Premier 2 game at Hartreemill, Biggar took revenge on Kelso for knocking them out of the Cup by securing the points by 31-8. Kelso's points came from a Daniel Porteous try and a Gregg Ponton penalty. In East League 2 Gala YM beat Leith away from home 21-15 to make amends for Leith's victory at Netherdale earlier in the season, but not so good luck for St Boswells who slumped to a 61-0 defeat at RDVC.
Feb 9th
Team: 15 Chris Paterson, 14 Thom Evans, 13 Sean Lamont, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Rory Lamont, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Chris Cusiter (c), 1 Alasdair Dickinson, 2 Ross Ford, 3 Euan Murray, 4 Nathan Hines, 5 Alastair Kellock, 6 Kelly Brown, 7 John Barclay, 8 Johnnie Beattie. Subs: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Allan Jacobsen, 18 Richie Gray, 19 Alan MacDonald, 20 Mike Blair, 21 Phil Godman, 22 Max Evans.
Feb 9th
Feb 6th
GHA stretched their lead just after the break with a further Noonan penalty before Martin Murray crashed over for a try to narrow the gap to a point. The Selkirk forwards, particularly Gordon Patterson, Andrew Renwick and Simon Willet, gave GHA a hard time up front and it was almost inevitable that Selkirk would finally get their noses in front with eight minutes to go when a good move out wide on the right ended with a Jason Hendrie try. It wasn't a text book performance from the Souters but despite being well below par in certain areas including goal kicking, you never thought that they would ever lose this one, and it's them who go into the hat for the next round with a 17-13 victory. Elsewhere Kelso were dumped out of the Cup by Howe of Fife from Premier 2, going out by 17-16 at Duffus Park. Kelso scored two tries from Kevin Utterson and Gareth Riddle with two penalties from Greg Ponton. Jedforest lost 14-3 at home to Premier 1's West of Scotland with Ewan Scott scoring Jed's only points with a penalty after the two teams turned round with no score at the break.
In the Shield Berwick got a bye through to the next round after Hawick YM conceded the tie, failing to field a team. Hawick Linden lost 8-0 at home to Linlithgow. Better news for Border teams in the Bowl though with two going through to the latter stages. Duns beat Edinburgh Northern 22-0 while Hawick Harlequins defeated Gala YM 24-18 at Netherdale. A re-arranged match between Biggar and Peebles took place at Hartreemill where Biggar won the local derby 11-3; Donald Anderson kicking a penalty for Peebles.
Feb 5th In the Club International at Netherdale, Scotland beat France 13-9 with Borderers getting all the points. Callum Anderson of Melrose scored the only try of the game, converted by team mate Scott Wight, who also kicked two penalties. France had opportunities to win the game with penalties but only scored three from their several attempts. Craig Jackson, the 18 year old Melrose back, has been called up to the Scotland Sevens squad for the Los Angeles leg of the IRB Sevens competition. He will fly out tomorrow. He only started playing senior rugby this season and it is a tremendous achievement for the youngster and his club.
Feb 4th Langholm won their appeal a few weeks ago following their home game against Livingston in which they were well ahead on 58 minutes when the game was abandoned by the referee due to the mud making it impossible for the two teams to be recognised! Had it gone on for a further two minutes the result would have stood but the official in charge refused to allow this to happen. What didn't help was the fact that Livingston turned up in the same colour jerseys as Langholm; something which, according to Kenneth Pool, President of Langholm, was the fault of their opponents rather than Langholm's. When this was discovered just over an hour before the kick off there was no time to get the changed strips ready for Langholm. Langholm appealed the decision for the game to be replayed but now, we understand, Livingston have appealed the appeal so the game may still be null and void which would be a disaster for Langholm who desperately need those five points in their battle to avoid relegation.
Feb 3rd Two local players have been named in the Scotland U20 squad for the game against France in Inverness on Friday night. Lindsey Gibson (Melrose) is on the bench while Selkirk's Alex Dunbar will start in the centre. Others from the area were on the short list including Michael Tait (ex Kelso now Falcons), Nicky Little (Hawick) and Aaron Hall (Berwick/Falcons).
Feb 2nd 15 Chris Paterson, 14 Thom Evans, 13 Graeme Morrison, 12 Max Evans, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Chris Cusiter (c). 1 Alasdair Dickinson, 2 Ross Ford, 3 Moray Low, 4 Nathan Hines, 5 Alastair Kellock, 6 Kelly Brown, 7 John Barclay, 8 Johnnie Beattie. Subs: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Allan Jacobsen, 18 Richie Gray, 19 Alan MacDonald, 20 Rory Lawson, 21 Alex Grove, 22 Hugo Southwell. Meanwhile all three local games have been snowed off tonight, but the Border League Pool A match between Hawick and Jedforest (for the Skelly Cup) has been re-scheduled for tomorrow night at 7.30pm.
Feb 1st
|
