Melrose 35 - 13 Glasgow Hawks: Pace and skill win the day

A strong second half against Glasgow Hawks gave leaders Melrose their fourth successive bonus point win in the BT Premiership.

George Horne was the Glasgow sides most threatening player. Picture: Gary Hutchison/SNS

The Borderers won the second half 29-3 after showing their expertise in the maul and their pace and skill behind the scrum, most notably from replacement James Johnstone.

Melrose trailed 10-6 at half-time with two penalties by Craig Jackson to a try for Hawks by centre Brendan McGroarty and the conversion and a penalty goal by scrum half George Horne, the Glasgow side’s most threatening player.

Scrum half Murdo McAndrew began the Melrose second half assault with a close-range try converted by Jackson before Russell Anderson completed a lineout drive.

Horne briefly checked the Melrose progress with a penalty goal but from then on it was the home side who dominated the scoring, helped by a yellow card shown to Matt Smith.

In the flanker’s absence McAndrew and replacement Ruairdh Knott added tries both converted by Jackson, who also kicked a penalty for a 15-point tally.