Rugby: Matt adds the finishing touch as Linlithgow see off Hawick Linden in Shield encounter

CAPTAIN Matt Dixon was the hero for Linlithgow as they progressed to the second round of the Scottish Hydro National Shield with an 8-0 win at Hawick Linden on Saturday.

The National One side were pushed all the way by their National Three hosts, though, and Linlithgow were just delighted to come back up the road from Hawick still in the competition.

Dixon gave his side the perfect start, scoring an unconverted try at Volunteer Park in the opening two minutes. Any thoughts that the score would be the start of the floodgates opening were quickly dismissed, however, and the score remained at 5-0 until half-time.

After the break, it was still tight, but Dixon managed to kick a penalty to increase Linlithgow's lead to 8-0 and that was the way it stayed despite the hosts fighting to the end.

Elsewhere in the knockout competition on Saturday, Lasswade defeated Hillfoots 32-5 to safely progress through and RHC Cougars are also still involved after seeing off Marr 24-18.

Edinburgh University and Ross High's hopes of getting to Murrayfield have gone, though, the former losing 32-10 at Dalziel and the latter going down 18-10 at home to Ellon.

In the Regional Bowl North, Berwick defeated East One title rivals Portobello to progress to round three, but Edinburgh Northern lost 22-0 at Duns.

In rearranged East One league matches, Dunbar won 30-7 at Lismore, while Penicuik won 15-5 away to Broughton at Wardie. And Dalkeith defeated Queensferry 107 in East Two.