This was the Souters’ 15th consecutive win in BT National League 1 and moves them 12 points clear of nearest rivals GHA at the top of the table. It is a winning streak unprecedented in the Philiphaugh club’s history.

However, Saturday’s match might not have been able to go ahead at all had it not been for the efforts of a willing band of volunteers. From early in the morning groundsman Brian Cassidy and helpers swept snow off lines, cleared spectator standing areas and re-lined the pitch with yellow marking.

Selkirk began the match with the breeze at their backs, but it was the visitors who exerted the early pressure thanks to some probing kicks by fly-half Nick McCashin. Danger threatened when Colleges were awarded a scrum on Selkirk’s five-metre line, but the home pack pushed their opponents off the ball and the danger was cleared.

Successive line breaks by Callum McColm and Darren Clapperton tested the Stewart’s/Melville defence, but the visitors’ fierce tackling was never less than all-enveloping, repeatedly preventing the home side’s attacks from generating any real momentum.

In the 19th minute Selkirk had the chance to take the lead, but Josh Welsh’s penalty attempt drifted wide. Three minutes later the Souters did put points on the board. Matt Kissick’s clean line-out take set up a rolling maul close to the visitors’ line, and after a series of surges prop Cata Graur was able to ground the ball for a try.

With the ever-industrious Gus Duckett continuing to prove a thorn in the visitors’ side at the breakdown, and number eight Callum Marshall linking well at the set-piece, Selkirk came close to increasing their lead when a thrilling run by Kissick up the stand touchline was carried on by Scott Hendrie. However, the city side managed to regroup in time to clear the danger.

Breaks by James Bett and Mikey Davies maintained the pressure on Stewart’s/Melville’s defence, but halftime arrived with no further scoring, leaving Selkirk 5-0 ahead.

In the 6nd minute Colleges reduced the deficit thanks to a Nick McCashin penalty after a Selkirk player was penalised for not releasing. At the other end of the field, Welsh and Hendrie came close to scoring following quickly taken tap penalties, but were each forced into touch just short of the corner flag.

By the final quarter of the match Selkirk had used all five of their replacements, and it was one of this group, Rory Banks, who managed to give the home team some breathing space by successfully kicking a penalty seven minutes from time to edge the Souters 8-3 ahead.

This forced Stewart’s/Melville to run all of their subsequent penalties, and in the final move of the match it looked for a second as though the visitors’ replacement Chris Anderson had gone over for a try in the corner.

However, much to the relief of the home supporters, the combined efforts of Angus Duckett and Darren Clapperton prevented the prop from grounding the ball, allowing Selkirk’s exhausted players to savour yet another hard-earned victory.

After the match, forwards coach Neill Wood praised the Philiphaugh players for another committed display. “We knew it would be a tough assignment against Stewart’s/Melville, who are a quality side, but the boys got stuck in right from the kick-off and turned in a typically gutsy performance.

“I was especially pleased by our work at the breakdown, with Gus Duckett in particular forcing several turnovers to keep us on the front foot. I thought Stewart’s/Melville’s defence was really solid, but then again so was ours whenever they threatened our line.

“When the chips are down our players always pull out all the stops, and you can’t ask for more than that. It was a real team effort out there today, with every member of the squad playing his part and making a significant contribution.” The only thing to mar Selkirk’s day came midway through the second half, when skipper Ross Nixon dived to gather a loose ball just as a Colleges player attempted to fly-hack it upfield, resulting in Ross sustaining a possible wrist fracture.

Although he stayed on the field for the remainder of the match, a visit to the BGH on Sunday confirmed that the Selkirk centre had most likely fractured his left scaphoid. A further X-ray will be taken later in the week once the swelling has gone down.

This injury could see Nixon sidelined for the rest of the season, where he will join two other Selkirk players with long-term injuries – Andrew Renwick and Gavin Craig.

The Four Seasons Forestry 'Selkirk Man of the Match’ Award on Saturday went to lock forward Matt Kissick.

Selkirk: J. Welsh, S. Hendrie, R. Nixon, C. MacDougall, D. Clapperton, C. McColm, M. Davies, K. Cooney, J. Bett, C. Graur, M. Utteridge, M. Kissick, E. MacDougall, A. Duckett, C. Marshall. Replacements: R. Banks, G. Patterson, C. Willemse, R. Wilson, J. Everitt.