MELROSE resumed their championship challenge after achieving victory over their close Border rivals, Gala, in a match that was not decided until the final two minutes of play.
With the teams locked at 27-27, Gala lost their hard-working back row Kris Mein to the sin-bin, allowing Melrose to kick to corner and launch a series of close-range drives that ended with lock forward James Head scoring the winning try.
It was a disappointing ending for a Gala side that had battled against the odds in the scrum and which at one stage in the second half led 27-17. But despite their enterprising and alert play that brought them three tries, Gala were always going suffer against a more muscular Melrose pack and particularly so in the front row.
“We’re struggling in the front row but the boys are trying their hearts out. Chris Keen is doing very well in the tighthead for a guy who’s an out and out loosehead. Luke [Pettie] has a battered and bruised body and we don’t have replacements for them because we’re struggling for front-row cover in the club,” admitted the Gala coach, George Graham.
By contrast, Melrose were able to rotate their props using Scotland Under-20 cap Dan Elkington and promising front row Ruairi McLeod off the bench. The imbalance in the packs increased when Gala lost their influential second row, Craig Borthwick, with a shoulder injury midway through the second half.
With so much scrum dominance, Melrose should have won more comfortably but as it was they failed to maintain their initial intensity. “It was disappointing that we switched off early in the game but I was pleased that we kept the ball in the second half and went through the phases. We’ll always cause teams trouble when we keep the ball.” warned the Melrose coach, John Dalziel.
They trailed 10-20 at the break having scored tries by prop Nick Beavon and second row Lewis Carmichael, Gala’s points coming from touchdowns by Borthwick and Alan Emond and accurate goal kicking by full back Craig Dods.
But tries by Bruce Colvine, Sam Pecqueur on either side of a Graham Spiers touchdown for Gala, levelled the scores before Head applied the coup de grace.
Scorers: Melrose: Tries: Beavon, Colvine, Carmichael, Pecqueur, Head. Cons: Helps (3), Baggott. Pen: Helps. Gala: Tries: Borthwick, Emond, Spiers. Cons: Dods (2), Jeffrey. Pens: Dods (2).
Melrose: F Thomson; N Godsmark, B Dick, T Galbraith, S Pecqueur; J Baggott, B Colvine; J Bhatti, R Ferguson, N Beavon, J Head, L Carmichael, N Irvine-Hess, G Runciman, G Dodds Subs R McLeod, D Elkington, A Grieve, J Helps, M McAndrew
Gala: C Dods; G Spiers, D Burrows, A Emond, C Robertson; R Jeffrey, G Graham; L Pettie, M Carryer, C Keen, C Borthwick, C Rowlandson, C Weir, L Scott, C Mein Subs R Tod, G Adams, S Cairns, F Robson, I Ross
Referee: S Grove-White
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