Melrose 41

Peebles 05

THE next generation of Greenyards greats were on show on Saturday as Melrose breezed past Peebles to reach the final of the Booker Border League.

No fewer than four teenagers were making their first team debuts.

And one of them - Harri Morris - was rightly named man-of-the-match.

The early kick off didn't stop Melrose racing into an early lead with Gavin Wood slicing through the defence inside the opening six minutes.

Donald Crawford slotted the first of his three conversions.

Iain Sim showed plenty of pace to outstrip his opposite number to go in at the far corner.

And before the quarter hour was up the winger had raced in for his second of the match.

Crawford converted before racing through a gap to score the bonus point try approaching the half hour.

Indiscipline resulted in the Peebles fly half being sin-binned just before the interval.

And Melrose took full advantage of the additional manpower with Gary McWilliam scoring on the overlap to give the hosts a 31-0 advantage at the break.

Although the pace dropped slightly after half time there was still plenty to please the crowd.

Crawford dived over for his second try of the game approaching the hour.

Although Peebles responded with a score of their own, it was debutant Darren King who was to have the final say as he raced in to score in the closing minutes.

Melrose. D Colvine, G McWilliam, I Sim, A Jardine, G Wood, D Crawford, M Klein, B Roden, B McLean, C Crookshank, T Brown, C Fairbairn, P O'Sullivan, H Morris & C Wilde. Reps: R Ferguson, W Owen, J Dobie, G Fullerton, T Klein, D King, L Mallin & R Sharp.