JED-FOREST and Melrose flew the flag for the Borders in the penultimate games of the Kings of the Sevens tournaments on Saturday at the 100th anniversary of Selkirk Sevens.

But it was Boroughmuir who lifted the trophy for the first time at Philiphaugh.

And it was also a day of celebration for city rivals, Watsonians, who retained the Kings of the Sevens title with a win against Berwick in the opening round.

It was Boroughmuir’s second success on the Borders circuit following the victory at Hawick.

Saturday's success puts them in a position to claim the runners-up spot in the Kings championship.

Following the 19-7 win over Jed in the final, coach Graham Shiel said: “I am really proud of the boys.

"They have worked really hard. We had high expectations of ourselves. We had tough games and we had to fight for it.

“I think we benefitted from having the first semi-final and then Jed had a hard game against Melrose, but we stepped up and maintained our performance.

"It was good and aiming to be runners-up is big progress.”

On a sunny afternoon, Boroughmuir clinched the cup against a Jed side, whose Callum Young was named Player-of-the-Tournament, with a string of strong performances.

Boroughmuir led 12-0 at the interval with tries by Johnny Matthews and Gavin Parker, who also converted the first.

Matthews scored again and Tom Wilson converted to put tie beyond doubt despite a late Lewis Young try and conversion.

Watsonians just needed to get past round one to confirm the championship, and they did it in style with six tries against gallant Berwick.

But they came unstuck against Jed-Forest in round two.

In the first of the semi-finals, a hat-trick of tries by Archie Russell against Edinburgh Accies steered Boroughmuir into the final, while, in the other semi, three touchdowns by Lewis Young helped Jed to defeat Melrose.

The men from The Greenyards fought bravely before going down 29-22, hitting back from 0-22 down at the break with two tries by Kieran Clark and one by Ruari Knott before Gregor Young ended their challenge.

Earlier, Boroughmuir defeated Kelso and Hawick while Jed ended the challenges of Gala and Watsonians.

The last of the 10 tournaments is at Jed-Forest on Saturday with Boroughmuir, Edinburgh Accies and Melrose vying for the Kings’ runners-up slot.

Results.

First round: Boroughmuir 35, Kelso 10; Hawick 40, GHA 14; Langholm 0, Edinburgh Accies 36; Selkirk 28, President’s Seven 5; Watsonians 37, Berwick 0; Gala 5, Jed-Forest 33; Peebles 0, Melrose 40; RGR Seven 45, Heriot’s 14.

Second round: Boroughmuir 44, Hawick 5; Edinburgh Accies 24, Selkirk 5; Watsonians 7, Jed-Forest 21; Melrose 19, RGR 7.

Semi-finals: Boroughmuir 24, Edinburgh Accies 14; Jed-Forest 29, Melrose 22.

Final: Boroughmuir 19, Jed-Forest 7.

Boroughmuir: G. Cannie, R. Arthur, J. Matthews, T. Wilson, C. Laidlaw, A. Russell, G. Welsh, G. Parker, A. McCube, J. Hamilton.