Musselburgh v Melrose
Musselburgh v Melrose – 21/9/24
To-day’s Round 4 Arnold Clark Men’s Premiership, preceded by a Minutes Silence in memory of long-standing Musselburgh supporter Colin Smith, was played on a “smirry”, overcast afternoon with a slippery pitch. Kicking off down hill with the breeze at their backs the hosts managed to persuade the Melrose receiver to knock-on the kick-off kick, then won a scrum penalty from which Craig Owenson took a quick tap and dived over for a try converted by Danny Owenson, and hardly a minute played! And, to make matters worse, Danny Owenson kicked a penalty at four minutes. At 10&14 minutes Keiran Clark reduced the lee-way with a brace of penalties, then, at 17 minutes, Corey Goldsbrough hacked through a loose Musselburgh pass, collected the ball and strode between the posts for a try converted by Clark. Danny Owenson ended the first half scoring with a penalty at 24 minutes.
Half time – Musselburgh 13 Melrose 13.
A penalty lineout on the left, three minutes into the second half saw the ball passed right before it bobbled over the line with Declan Mulcahy first to react and ground it for a try converted by Clark. Three minutes later Jerry Blyth-Lafferty completed a penalty lineout rolling maul on the left with an unconverted try. Six minutes later Blyth-Lafferty repeated his previous effort, this time on the right with Clark adding the extras and yielding Melrose the bonus point. Blyth-Lafferty scored his hat-trick try, again from a penalty lineout rolling maul, at 70 minutes with Clark converting. With five minutes remaining Douglas Crawford slalomed through the home defence for an unconverted try in the right corner. Then, with no-side imminent, Crawford chipped the ball down the left side. The wicked bounce bamboozled the Musselburgh defender, but ended in Goldsbrough’s sticky mitts and he raced into the left corner for a try which Clark converted from the touchline to take the Melrose tally to 51 points. The sore was sore on Musselburgh who, to their crdit, never gave up trying throughout the match.
Musselburgh 13 Melrose 51.
Melrose Man of the Match - Angus Weir
Musselburgh – P. Cunningham, T. Foley, R. Watt©, F. Thomson, S. Watt, D. Owenson, J. Rule, C. Owenson, B. Stott, N. McNairn, A. Mataitini, R. Brown, J. Lister, D. Jakeman, M. Badenhorst. Replacements – J. Crain, E. Bonthron, Z. Griffith, J. Arnold, M. Outram, P. Burns, O. Craig.
Melrose – Keiran Clark, Hamish Weir, Declan Mulcahy, Roly Brett, Corey Goldsbrough, Evan Davies, Bruce Colvine, Jack Dobie, Harri Morris, Zen Szwagrzak, Angus Weir, Angus Runciman©, Ben McLean, Jerry Blyth-Lafferty, Ruairidh Lindsay. Replacements – Logan Kirk, Andrew Kirk, ROBBIE Robinson, Elliot Ruthven, Will Ferrie, Douglas Crawford, Struan Hutchison.
Referee – David Young.
Photos from Musselburgh v Melrose Saturday 21st September by Andy Mclean
