Hawick 3 - 14 Melrose: Double defeat for the Greens

Melrose scored a second win over Border rivals, following up their victory over Gala last weekend with success against Hawick .

Michael Robertson of Hawick suffered a neck injury

In a match that was interrupted for 18 minutes in the first half because of a neck injury to the Hawick forward Michael Robertson, Melrose were unable to convert their pressure into points, their two tries a poor return for their dominance.

Melrose started off well.Their powerful forward play forced Hawick to concede a succession of penalties, each resulting in a driven lineout by the visitors. Then when Hawick’s skipper Bruce McNeil was yellow-carded, Melrose went through the same routine and this time succeeded in crossing the line, the try credited to Neil Irvine-Hess. Jason Baggot converted and then added the extras to a try by Ross McCann when play resumed after Robertson was stretchered off. In between Ali Weir kicked a penalty for Hawick to leave the Greens trailing 14-3 at the break.

The expectation was the Melrose would overpower Hawick in the second half but the Greens posted a battling performance in a no-score second period to achieve if nothing else a psychological victory.