PREM REVIEW | Melrose make ground on leaders Ayr
19 Nov 2018It was a weekend of tight encounters and gritty performances during Round 11 of Tennent’s Premiership action at the weekend.
The title race took a dramatic twist as current leaders, Ayr, were beaten by a solitary point at the hands of Currie Chieftains. It had been a tough week for the Chieftains who had to come to terms with the passing of their Chairman, Campbell Reynolds, with a minute’s silence.
On the pitch, there were only three points separating the teams at the half time break (7-10), following tries by Steven Longwell and Kyle Rowe for Ayr.
Matt Hooks claimed a brace of scores for the Chieftains, but Ayr managed to still lead proceedings going into the final moments after a Pete McCallum try, followed by penalties from the boot of Frazier Climo. Graeme Carson was the man to win it for the home-side scoring before the final whistle 24-23.
Melrose showed their intentions to reclaim their crown with a commanding performance as they travelled to Glasgow Hawks.
Russell and Patrick Anderson each collected two scores, as did James Head, Jason Baggot and Rory Darge with Hawk’s Strain the solitary reply. Hutchison’s kicking was in fine touch as he slotted seven conversions with the final score 7-49, allowing Melrose to close the gap at the top to a single point.
Stirling County enjoyed a successful trip to the capital as they overcame Edinburgh Academicals at Raeburn Place with a 23-31 victory. Wilson and Paterson both dotted down for the home-side, but Andrew Goudie, Bruce Sorbie, Ali Mackie and Logan Trotter all crossed the line to ensure all the points would be heading back to Bridghaugh.
Heriot’s had their title challenge dented at Myreside on Friday night against Watsonians. It was a relatively low-scoring affair, as the home defence stayed strong.
Each team only managed one try a-piece, with Heriot’s coming through Craig Robertson, before Jack Stanley scored for the Myreside-men, but the trusty boot of Lee Millar ensured the home side would take the spoils 16-5.
Elsewhere, Boroughmuir enjoyed a bonus-point win at Mansfield Park to inflict defeat on Hawick 12-26.
Jordan Edmunds, Jonny Matthew, Craig Gossman all ran in tries with Gavin Parker slotting all three conversions.
Results
Fri 16 Nov 2018
Watsonian FC 16 – 5 Heriot’s
Sat 17 Nov 2018
Edinburgh Academical FC 23 – 31 Stirling County RFC
Glasgow Hawks RFC 7 – 49 Melrose RFC
Hawick RFC 12 – 26 Boroughmuir
Currie Chieftains 24 – 23 Ayr RFC
