National League Rugby: Three proves a charm for in-form Stewart’s Melville

Stewart’s Melville became the first side to defeat Glasgow Hawks this term at Inverleith on Saturday, and, in the process, recorded their third win on the spin in the RBS National League.

Before they arrived in the Capital the men from Old Anniesland had won six from six, but the home side were feeling confident after beating Kelso and Hamilton in the past few weeks. And after Hawks had taken the lead with an early penalty through Mike Adamson, Stewart’s Melville came back with tries from Angus Lean and Craig Marshall, both converted by Mike Hanning, to give them a 14-3 half-time advantage.

After the interval, Hawks threw everything at the home side, and, when they had a man in the sin-bin, the visitors’ replacement prop, Paul Henderson, grabbed a try. With ten minutes to go, Adamson kicked a penalty to at least ensure a losing bonus point, but Stewart’s Melville held on 14-11.

With Hawks losing it meant Watsonians had the chance to close the gap at the top and, although they were not at their best, they managed to secure their sixth win in a row by seeing off Biggar 22-13 at Myreside.

Converted tries by Rory Steele and Marcus Heather put the hosts 14-6 up at the interval, but credit to Biggar who fought back after the break. A converted try from Cameron Thomson brought them back to just a point behind before three penalties saw Watsonians home.

Hawick, in third, and Hamilton shared over 100 points in a cracker at Mansfield Park with the hosts eventually coming out on top 61-40. Rory Hutton led the way with two tries, while others on the scoresheet were Keith Davies, Craig Smith, Lee Armstrong, Scott McLeod, Nick MacTaggart, Stuart Graham and Neil Renwick, with the latter converting eight of them. Andy Hill bagged a hat-trick of tries in defeat for the men from Laigh Bent.

Jed-Forest are still bottom after they went down 23-19 to Selkirk in the Borders derby at Philiphaugh. Angus Duckett and Darren Clapperton scored tries for the hosts, with Mike McVie kicking 13 points. Jed’s points came from a Robert Hogg try and the boot of Iain Chisholm.

At Hughenden, Hillhead/Jordanhill got the better of Kelso. Blair McPherson led the way with two tries for the home side in the 29-23 victory.