There may be a lull in the club calendar throughout the rest of Scotland, but not in the Borders, where many of the same organisations who have been knocking seven bells out of one another in the world's oldest club championship for the last century and longer are battling for supremacy against their rivals.

Boxing Day promises a cracker, with festive goodwill kept to a minimum, when Melrose entertain Gala at The Greenyards, in a Border League contest between first and second in the Premiership. At stake will all sorts of bragging rights at a time when most of their compatriots are sitting in front of the television, bemoaning a turkey slice or mince pie too far.

There was only a wafer-thin margin between these adversaries when they locked horns in November, with Craig Chalmers' men seizing a late try to edge out Gala at Netherdale: a twist in the tail which still preys on George Graham's mind. Yet, as the former Scotland prop declared yesterday, he intends to use that experience as a motivational tool when he assembles his squad for a final training session on Christmas Eve. "This is as big as it gets – there were 2500 fans at the first match and we could see something similar next week if the weather is half decent, because while it doesn't gain many headlines elsewhere, the Border League is still a really big deal down here and gives us intense local derbies every weekend," said Graham, whose charges have already secured victories in the competition over Kelso, Jed-Forest, Peebles, Selkirk and Hawick.

"We know that it will tough to beat Melrose and we're well aware that Chick [Chalmers] has never lost to Gala in his career, either as a player or coach, so we will have to be at our best to gain the upper hand. But I think we were the better side in November and, on balance, we should have won, so we definitely feel that we can travel there and get a positive result. It's a huge fixture, because this, effectively, is a quarter-final of the Scottish Cup, the semi-final of the Border League, and we are also playing for the Bill McLaren Trophy and the Waverley Cup. And, for anybody who isn't acquainted with these games, they are like Rangers against Celtic, only they happen every week."

Keith Robertson, the former Scotland and British Lions winger, certainly agrees with these sentiments. As somebody who engaged in regular combat with the likes of Gala, Kelso and Hawick during his playing days, he tasted plenty of glory throughout his stint at Melrose and believes that the looming clash with Gala is too close to call. Yet, more importantly, from his perspective, this is a great opportunity for these clubs to highlight the extent of the young talent which is still being nurtured in the South of Scotland.

"I have watched a lot of matches this season and I have no doubt that the Borders is unearthing as many good youngsters as anywhere in the country; the problem is that these lads can only go so far at the moment, then they are forced to move if they want to look for a professional contract," said Robertson.

"One of my wishes for 2012 is that the SRU finally recognises that they can't keep going with just two pro teams and accept the need to hand over control to private investors. It's good for the region that Melrose and Gala are doing themselves proud, but it's a crying shame the best players at these clubs have no option but to leave their roots if they want to earn a living from rugby."

This issue won't go away, regardless of the (relative) success of Glasgow and Edinburgh in Europe. But, for Graham at least, he can only control what happens at Gala and one suspects he won't be wasting time with any of the BBC's Dickens celebrations in the week ahead. Instead, his thoughts will be on great expectations at The Greenyards.