Heriots v Melrose 30/11/2024
Heriots v Melrose – 30/11/24
What a howking, and who saw that coming! On a beautiful day for a game of rugby Melrose kicked off this Arnold Clark Men’s Premiership match facing the bright sun and, although second best they did have some, but not enough, good passages of play. Receiving the kick-off Heriots passed and kicked the ball up-field with it eventually reaching Lewis Wells who dived into the left corner for a try converted by Ross Jones – and only a minute played. At 11 minutes Heriots won a penalty lineout rolling maul in the left corner with Sam Wallace collecting the try and Jones the conversion. At 23 minutes Bruce Colvine’s pass found Jack Dobie in space with the prop bullocking towards the line before off-loading to Jerry Blyth-Lafferty whose try in the right corner was converted by Struan Hutchison. Five minutes later Michael Liness completed a penalty lineout rolling maul on the right with an unconverted try. Three minutes later, following an Angus Hunter break, Ruairidh Leishman dived over to the left of the posts for the Heriots bonus point try which Jones converted.
Half time – Heriots 26 Melrose 7
Three minutes into the second half, after good passing and a series of plays, Hunter found the gap in the Melrose defence and made a bee-line to the posts for a try converted by Jones. Two minutes later Euan McLaren found another gap and scored at the posts; Jones converted. Then, another three minutes on, Melrose won a penalty lineout in the right corner with Colvine’s pass sending Corey Goldsbrough in at the corner for a try converted by Hutchison. A quickly taken penalty on the Melrose 10m line, at 55 minutes, saw George Coull race in for a try at the posts with Dan King adding the extras. At 62 minutes Melrose were shunted off the ball at a defensive scrum 5 with Freddie Gibson wriggling over for a try which King converted. Five minutes later Hunter completed a Heriots passing move for a try which King converted. With 74 minutes played Luke Townsend kicked out of defence towards the Melrose winger on the left, but, unfortunately, Christian Townsend stole the ball out of the winger’s hands and strolled into the right corner for an unconverted try. Melrose, however, had the last word, with no-side imminent, when Goldsbrough got his hands on the ball and, with a clavicle breaking type dive, acrobatically scored in the left corner with Hutchison converting. Not a good day at the office!
Heriots 66 Melrose 21
Heriots – Dan King, George Coull, Thomas Glendinning, Angus Hunter, Lewis Wells, Ross Jones, Sinjin Broad, Chris Keen, Michael Liness, Euan McLaren, Ronan Seydak, Jamie Campbell, Jason Hill, Sam Wallace, RUAIRIDH Leishman©. Replacements – Flynn Thomas, Angus Munro, Struan Cessford, Patrick Spence, Freddie Gibson, Christian Townsend, Kerr Yule.
Melrose – Morgan Gabe, Declan Mulcahy, Roily Brett, Struan Hutchison, Corey Goldsbrough, Luke Townsend, Bruce Colvine, Jack Dobie, Jerry Blyth-Lafferty, Zen Szwagrzak, Angus Weir, Angus Runciman©, Allan Ferrie, Elliot Ruthven, Ruairidh Lindsay. Replacements – Logan Kirk, Will Owen, Robbie Robinson, Dylan Cockburn, Ben McLean, James Coull, Keiran Clark.
Referee – Scott Cubitt