Melrose aim to build on British Cup win

Melrose president Mike Dalgetty feels that the club's win in the British & Irish Cup against Esher will give them a massive lift heading into a busy period.

The Borderers became only the second-ever Scottish side, after Ayr, to win a match in the cross-border event with the 24-18 victory over the English Championship side at Nether-dale on Monday.

And the win will see Craig Chalmers and his side head into this Saturday's Premier Cup match with Haddington and then away trips to Llanelli and Nottingham, on 15 and 22 January respectively, on a high.

Dalgetty said: "It was a great performance by the team and it is a milestone to win our first match in the British & Irish Cup against top-quality opponents.

"It shows all Scottish clubs that we can all strive to compete at a higher level and events like this one can only help raise the quality of rugby in this country."

In a match which saw five yellow cards brandished by referee Cammy Rudkin, Melrose went into the break 13-9 up thanks to the boot of captain Scott Wight and a try by back-row John Dalziel.

After the break, Melrose added a further try through scrum-half Rob Chrystie and two more penalties from Wight to delight the crowd and seal victory.

The result was all the more impressive given that centre Jamie Murray had to drop out due to sickness just before kick-off, while experienced prop Richard Higgins came off the bench for his first top team outing of the term.

Dalgetty added: "In the second half the team kept the ball much better and that allowed us to control large chunks of the game and put Esher under pressure. The guys really had taken on board what they had learnt from the defeat to Munster in December and now we are looking forward to travelling to Wales for the next tough test."

The outcome was even more remarkable given that Melrose's players have struggled to train on grass over the festive period, indeed some of their training has taken place in the car park at the Borders General Hospital.

Captain Wight was also pleased with his team's showing.

"We were sick of hearing how we had played well against Munster for 40 minutes and we wanted to put in a performance for 80 minutes against Esher which we did. I thought overall the boys were outstanding," he told Radio Borders.