MELROSE 19, HAWICK 13
Hawick travelled to a very chilly Greenyards with confidence following the two good wins in recent weeks over Glasgow Hawks and Dundee. Despite the cold, a sizeable crowd watched a keenly contested Border derby which was played with the usual intensity and commitment. The odd flair up, which is always going to happen, added to the drama but referee Steele kept tempers under control with his sensible decisions.
Hawick started strongly with the pack more than holding their own against a much bigger Melrose eight. Melrose parhaps had the edge in the lineout but the Hawick scrum and loose play had their opponents on the back foot most of the afternoon. Craig Neish again was in good form with the boot and kicked an early penalty. The Melrose backs made some telling breaks and only some desperate defence by Hawick, one tackle from Steven Anderson saving a certain try, kept the score at 3-0 at the interval.
Melrose now had the slight advantage of the swirling wind in the second half. Melrose worked their way up to the Hawick line and Dalziel dived over for the first try of the afternoon which was converted to give the home side a 7-3 lead. Again the Melrose backs were asking questions of the Hawick defence and after some weak Hawick tacking, Macey scored another converted try. Despite some sustained Hawick pressure on the Melrose line, Hawick were unable to turn this pressure into points and with the match now into the final ten minutes, Melrose scored their third try for a comfortable 19-3 lead. With Hawick again showing their fighting spirit and after some good defence from Melrose, replacement scrum half Bruce Campbell managed to force his way over for a try which was well converted by Neish to reduce the Melrose lead to 19-10. With the match into the final minute and Hawick still taking the game to Melrose, Craig Neish landed a pressure penalty with the final kick of the match for a final score of 19-13 which gave Hawick what could prove a vital losing bonus point but Melrose who took their chances well did deserve their win and the four league points.

Team:- Michael Graham, Colin Murray, Rory Hutton, Craig Neish, Steven Anderson, Barry Sutherland, Kevin Reid, Simon Fleetwood, Matt Landels, Geoff Cross, Craig Charters, Ryan Hogg, Nick McTaggart, Andy Wilson and Michael Robertson
Subs:- Bruce Campbell, Greg Thomson, Brad Turnbull, Ross Gibson and Sean Linton