Melorse 43 - 34 Aberdeen Grammar: Melrose relief after scare

MELROSE escaped another spell of the jitters to keep their title chase on track – but only just.

It took two big penalty kicks by Glasgow Warrior Scott Wight, the villain of the piece with an intercepted pass for a Gala try a week earlier at Netherdale, to calm the nerves.

With Dundee winning against Currie, the championship now goes down to the wire in two weeks with Melrose at Boroughmuir on 6 April and Stirling heading to Dundee less than 24 hours later.

“It was like the Dundee game that we threw away all over again,” said Melrose skipper Graeme Dodds. “This time Aberdeen won the try count 5-4, but Melrose collected maximum points.

“We got our five points and that was the most important part. We scored the tries and then gave soft ones away from turnovers and breakdowns. We were very scrappy in the second half.

Callum Anderson, the former Melrose winger now at Aberdeen, admitted: “I stayed overnight at my mum’s and it was good to come back to The Greenyards, but we gave away penalties after we scored and that probably cost us the match.”

It was also the last game at Melrose for former cap Cammie Murray.

“I am hanging up my boots. The body tells you something,” he said.

Melrose will be wondering how the team led 34-14 at the break and then saw Aberdeen hooker Sam Bingham power over for two tries in the space of two minutes. It was then ‘game on’ as Aberdeen cut the deficit to 34-31 before Wight sent two massive kicks between the posts and stand-off Andrew Skeen finished with a tally of 22 points from a try, four conversions, two penalties and a drop goal.

Melrose were smiling at the interval as the backs pulverised the visiting defence with four tries and could have scored more. Within 31 minutes they had 34 points on the board with four tries from Skeen, Bruce Colvine, Allan Dodds and Bruce Dick. Skeen added the others with the boot.

However, Aberdeen kept the Northern Lights bright as Tony McGinness and Fraser Lyle went over with Alex Hagart adding the goal points.

It took a long time for Melrose to adjust after the break and Aberdeen were soon ahead in the try stakes with the Bingham double adding to Steve Aitken’s score and Hagart’s conversions.