Melrose 26

Stirling County 28

David Morrison

at The Greenyards

IF Rob Chrystie was needing a reminder of the tough season that lies ahead he was given it on Saturday.

The BT Charity Shield final proved that despite his Greenyards players commanding the domestic game last season, the teams who finished behind them have eyes on closing the gap.

County looked far from over-awed during the early exchanges.

And the unusually high rate of penalties conceded by the home allowed their efforts to be turned into points.

Melrose, surprisingly took the lead early on with phases and hard carries from the pack allowing Patrick Anderson to score.

And Craig Jackson slotted the conversion for a 7-3 advantage.

But Stirling's player-coach Peter Jerecivich and the powerful Ally Mackie both scored as County looked the more clinical with ball in hand.

Johnny Hope converted both scores to add to his early penalty for a 20-7 half time advantage.

Charlie Dineen looked to have put the final out of sight in the 43rd minute with a try out wide.

But the score seemed to spark Melrose into life.

Murdo McAndrew got the ball rolling with a well-executed try.

And Thomson turned the building pressure into a further two tries for the home team.

Jackson's two-out-of-three conversion had left Melrose with the unlikeliest of 26-25 leads entering the final few minutes.

But all credit to County as a late surge saw the rewarded with a las-gasp penalty in front of the posts, which Hope slotted for a deserved win.

Melrose: Fraser Thomson; Gavin Wood, Patrick Anderson, Thomas Klein, Michael Muelace-Julyan; Craig Jackson, Murdo McAndrew; Grant Shiells, Russell Ferguson, Ruairi McLeod, Aaron Welsh, Angus Runciman, Ruaridh Knott, Rory Darge, Grant Runciman. Reps: Ben McLean, Calum Crookshank, Callum Wilde, Struan Hutchinson, David Colvine