Melrose get off the sevens mark with victory at Earlston event

MELROSE broke its sevens series duck and got their Kings of the Sevens season back on track at the Earlston tournament yesterday at the Haugh.

The series was opened wide after the leaders, Jed-Forest, just beat Berwick by five points and were then knocked out by Selkirk.

Melrose stormed into a 19-0 lead in the final at the interval with tries from Fraser Thomson, Andrew Skeen and Graeme Dodds, with Skeen adding the goal points.

Hawick hit back in the second half with scores from Craig Russell, Gary Johnstone and Rory Hutton, but Thomson’s second try ensured that Melrose won the trophy for the third time in succession.

Watsonians, the winners at Kelso the previous day, went out to a Hawick side with Keith Davies scoring the crucial try in the semi-final to follow scores from Hutton and Michael Robertson.

Earlier, Melrose had held on to a 12-7 lead against Selkirk with tries from Joe Helps and Fraser Thomson.

On Saturday, Watsonians continued to play catch-up in the Kings of the Sevens series after the club’s second win in a week, following its success at Peebles, by lifting the Kelso cup on Saturday at Poynder Park.

For the second successive week, Watsonians defeated Jed-Forest in the final, this time by 33-28, but Jed still lead the Kings series in what promises to be a thrilling finale.

It was a special double-celebration day for the team as Watsonians picked up the trophy for the first time (the event started in 1920) and Mike Ker won their first-ever Player-of-the-Tournament award.

“I would like to thank Jed for a tough final, but I am delighted for the boys,” Ker said.

Jed had to play the final without Gregor Young, who damaged a shoulder against Melrose in a tough semi, and he was replaced by Hawick’s Rory Hutton.

Jed beat the Kings holders, Melrose, by just two points after the former winners were taken to extra-time in the last of the group games by Edinburgh Accies, with the tournament being played for the second time on a pool basis.

Watsonians had to play two minutes in the first half without Mark Rennie, who was yellow-carded, but Rennie came back to stop Jed in their tracks with a brace of tries after the interval.

It was level pegging at half-time, with Jack Ferguson and Scott McKean scoring for the eventual winners and Iain Chisholm and Lewis Young replying for Jed.

Rennie led the charge in the second half while Chisholm and Darren Gillespie hit back for Jed – but Harris Grant’s try and Ker’s kicking ensured that the trophy was heading to the city.

The stage now moves on to the tournaments over the next two weekends at Selkirk and Jed- Forest, with Jed leading the field on 54 points followed by Melrose 45 and Watsonians 38.