Melrose 23 Peebles 21

A late penalty by Scott Ruthven gave Melrose a victory in a tense Premiership victory at the Greenyards.

Melrose took an early lead through a Ruthven penalty and added to their score with a try by Kelly Brown following an excellent break by Kacey Mitchell. Ruthven added the conversion for a 10 point lead. Peebles came back into the game with a try by Chris Foster in the corner which Scott Nichol converted with a superb kick. Just before half time another Ruthven penalty added to Melrose's lead to make the half time score 13-7.

In the second half Peebles enjoyed a spell of pressure and following a lineout their forwards drove over for a try which Nichol again converted to give Peebles a 1 point lead. Melrose soon regained the lead with a try by replacement Wayne Mitchell who also scored from a lineout drive. Ruthven added the conversion from the touchline. Peebles, however, were not finished and from a similar lineout move they drove to score again through Elliot Stephenson. Nichol's conversion put them into a 1 point lead with 10 minutes remaining. Melrose forced themselves into the Peebles half again and following an earlier miss Scott Ruthven kicked a penalty with 7 minutes remaining. The game finished with both teams fighting hard for possession but Melrose finished the game in the Stirling half for a hard fought victory to keep their championship hopes alive.

Peebles can take great credit from their performance which should gain them points during the rest of the season.