Jedforest 14

Selkirk 8

Callum Hodgson

at Riverside Park

AS well as a losing bonus point Selkirk can take away a great deal of confidence from their defeat against leaders Jed-Forest.

The Riverside Park club are rightly considered favourites to claim the National League One title this season.

And for periods, during what turned into a war of attrition, they showed why.

But Selkirk for the most part more than matched their derby rivals and if a few decisions, especially in the first half, had been made differently they could have been leaving Riverside Park with the win.

From the kick off both defences looked secure as neither team could make breaks or create clear try-scoring platforms.

Jed's confidence in their pack was evident with the decision to kick for the corner rather take the penalty points.

But they came up against a well-drilled unit in Selkirk who continually forced mistakes.

Selkirk had their own opportunities for the long-range boot of David Cassidy to kick them in front, but they also chose to go for the corners.

The scoreless opening 40 minutes wasn't nearly as dull as the overhead clouds - and it was edge of the seat stuff for much of the half.

Cassidy did kick Selkirk into a 3-0 lead early in the second period.

But this sparked a reaction from Jed, who finally put several good phases together before Darren Gillespie drove over.

Gary Munro nailed the conversion for a 7-3 advantage.

Selkirk did well to repel the home pack during their purple patch.

But the pressure eventually led to Gillespie crashing over for his second score of the afternoon.

At 14-3, Jed looked to have the victory in the bag.

But back came Selkirk with several good drives up the middle, and they were rewarded with a Ewan MacDougall try.

It proved to be too little, too late but this was still a determined display from Selkirk that should bode well for the rest of the season.

Selkirk. D Cassidy, J Welsh, F Anderson, D Clapperton, R Nixon, R Banks, S Clark, L Pettie, J Bett, J Anderson, A McKay, P Forrest, S Nixon, S McClymont & D Nichol. Reps: A McColm, B Riddell, E MacDougall, C MacDougall & C McColm.