Rugby: Murrayfield beckons as Musselburgh and Dunbar make finals day

Musselburgh and Dunbar will be running out at Murrayfield on April 21 after they both came through their RBS Shield and Bowl semi- finals on Saturday.

With Boroughmuir losing out to Ayr in the RBS Cup last four it was down to the two in-form East Lothian sides to make sure some local outfits made it through to the big day.

And they did not disappoint, Musselburgh coming from 17-13 down at the break to see off rivals Hawick YM away from home and Dunbar defeating Hawick Harlequins 46-31 at Hallhill.

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Down in Hawick, YM scored an early try, but Musselburgh hit back almost immediately with a try from centre Paul Davis. Stand-off Dave O’Hagen converted.

By the interval the Borderers were four points to the good, Burgh’s other scores being two O’Hagen penalties. The second-half was nip and tuck and it took a moment of magic to clinch this one. Winger James Murray, who has had a great season, scored a cracking individual try with 15 minutes remaining and the visitors were 18-17 up.

With ten minutes to go Musselburgh had a man yellow carded, but they defended brilliantly to reach the final against Dunfermline and coach Brian Hughes said: “I am so proud of the way the guys stuck at it. All season there hasn’t been much to choose between ourselves and YM and it was the same on Saturday. We played good rugby when it mattered though and the guys cannot wait to go to Murrayfield.”

Dunbar will take on Helensburgh in the Bowl final and their win on Saturday over Hawick Harlequins was their fifth over that opposition this season.

The final will give Dunbar the chance to claim a league and Bowl double.

Elsewhere at the weekend, in league business, there were wins for Murrayfield Wanderers and Linlithgow in National One. Wanderers defeated Ellon 48-8 at home with Alex Cox leading the way with three tries and Linlithgow beat Garnock 18-8.

Dalkeith beat Broughton 64-0 in East Two and Edinburgh Northern are odds on to win East Three after a 19-7 victory at Inverleith.