Melrose 29 - 20 Ayr: Sweet little victory in the wet wet wet

THIS was the one that they wanted and, after a shaky start, this was the one that they got. Melrose claimed their first championship for 14 years in front of a healthy crowd at the Greenyards, where even the second-half downpour failed to dampen their enthusiasm.

It is the first time a Border club has won the league since Hawick triumphed in 2002 and Melrose's success should prove that Border clubs can compete with those from the central belt.

Sequels rarely live up to the standards set by the original and yesterday's encounter at the Greenyards was no different, it wasn't a patch on the cup final of last weekend. Melrose threw the ball about at every opportunity, at least in the first half when it was dry, and may have been guilty of playing too much rugby from too deep. Ayr used their big forwards to go route one but regardless of the contrast in styles, neither side hit the heights that they reached last weekend.

It won't worry Melrose, whose coach Craig Chalmers played the last time this club topped the table when it matters most. Easter seems like an appropriate time of year to talk about a resurrection even if it only refers to a rugby club. The Border club were untouchable in the 1990s, winning five titles between 1992 and 1997. Since then they have appeared in the last four cup finals but failed at every attempt in the league; just another casualty of the professional era. When Chalmers last lifted the league trophy did he imagine that it would take 14 years before he got his hands on it again?

"No! To be fair that side of 1997 just broke up," said the Melrose coach, cradling an empty bottle of Champagne. "I think nine of us left to play professional rugby so that was that. This is a great result for Melrose and for the Borders. We kept our heads and kicked our kicks. I think Scott Wight controlled things very well and the referee was very strong. There were a lot of shenanigans going on last week and we didn't let them get away with it today.

"I'm a greedy so-and-so and I wanted to win the cup final as well but this was the title we really needed to win, this is the one that we have been working towards. It evoked all sorts of memories of 1997 and of course it was nice to win it in front of our own crowd."

Chalmers has held the reins at Melrose for five years now and in that time he has led his club to four cup finals and yesterday they snatched the league title with a squad that is almost wholly "Made in Scotland".Of the 22 on the day only the big Kiwi lock Hayden Mitchell is from foreign shores, although Border rivals might point out that plenty of Rose's players started their careers elsewhere.It is also worth remembering that Chalmers was unwanted by the national Under-20 team this last season despite his notable successes with his club in both the sevens and in ending the championship drought.

While Mark Bennett dominated last Saturday's final, the young Ayr centre was substituted after an fairly ineffective 60 minutes. It was Melrose skipper Wight who claimed the plaudits yesterday - the flyhalf's boot ensured that his team played in the right half of the field and it also claimed 19 points. Melrose deserved their win but they owe a vote of thanks to Ayr whose discipline disintegrated on the day. Departing Ayr skipper Damien Kelly scored a try at the start of each half but they were never able to put clear blue water between them and their hosts because of the penalty count. Wight was gifted six pots at goal and he converted five of them to give his team a cushion of points that ensured the home side took a handy lead when lock Garry Elder crashed over for Melrose's first try midway through the second half.

A Ross Curle penalty with 20 minutes to play meant that Ayr were just one converted try away from levelling the score. Instead, the try came at the other end of the field from replacement Melrose lock Ross Miller and the final seven minutes of play were a lap of honour with the result no longer in doubt. Curle's injury-time effort arrived too late to change anything other than the scoreboard.

The final whistle was the signal for celebrations to erupt in the Greenyards and they can be forgiven if the party went on into the wee small hours. They must have worked up quite a thirst over the last 14 years.

Scorers: Melrose: Try: Elder, Miller. Conv: Wight (2). Pen: Wight (5). Ayr: Try: Kelly (2), Curle. Conv: Curle. Pen: Curle.

Melrose: Thomson; Anderson, J Murray, C Murray (Helps 70 min), A Dodds; Wight, Chrystie; Beavon, W Mitchell (Innes 63 min), Holborn (Little 29 min), Elder, H Mitchell (Miller 29 min), Dalziel, Runciman, G Dodds.

Ayr: Anderson; Manning, Bennett (McCallum 67 min), Stewart, Taylor; Curle, MacFarlane, Reid, McArthur, Sykes (A Kelly 27 min), Sutherland (Stewart 57 min), Kelly, Colhoun (Tippett 23 min), Burke, Dunlop.

Referee: Graham Knox. Attendance: 1800.