West of Scotland 15 - 20 Melrose: Melrose resist West revival

Published on Sunday 30 November 2008 22:44

IT'S a long way from Melrose to Burnbrae on the edge of the Highland Line, but for the first half hour of this game it was the hosts who seemed to have been crammed on a coach for several hours.

In this period, well-organised Melrose had taken a 17-0 lead – but for a couple of slips in the red zone it would have been more – and looked set to stroll to a five-point win. Tries had been scored by Lindsey Gibson and Dave Whiteford, with Scott Wight converting both and kicking a penalty.

Fast forward 40 minutes and the now embattled visitors, at 17-15, were struggling to stay in front. West's revival came when their pack began to take the game forward with ball in hand.

Tries were scored by Andy Park and Richie Gray, while Peter Horne converted one and kicked a penalty. A couple of clever touch kicks from old head John Dalziel kept the last minutes in the West 22 where a penalty in front of the posts in stoppage time allowed Wight to make sure of the seventh consecutive Melrose win.

Scorers: West: Tries: Park, Gray. Con: Horne. Pen: Horne. Melrose: Tries: Gibson, Whiteford. Cons: Wight 2. Pens: Wight 2

West of Scotland: R Ker; A Park, D Young, I Keith, M Sim; P Horne, A Fisken; J Welsh, G Bulloch, E McLaren, J Vos, R Gray, J Walker, B Pirie, G Fisken. Subs used: A Kennedy, D McKenna, C Duck, L Menzies.

Melrose: J Macey; C Anderson, J Lew, J King, D Whiteford; S Wight, S McCormick; S Williams, L Gibson, N Beavon, G Dodds, J Bradburn, B Wallace, J Dalziel, R Millar. Subs used: K Palepoi, R Higgins, R Ovens.

Referee: G Gordon