Stewart’s Melville 2nds 7

Selkirk ‘A’ 22

HIT by late call-ups to the 1st XV, Selkirk ‘A’s depleted squad dug extra deep at Inverleith on Saturday to pull off a mightily impressive victory over a bigger, more experienced Stewart’s Melville side.

The win takes Selkirk to the top of Tennent’s East Reserve League Division 1 for the first time this season, setting up a fascinating clash this Saturday at Philiphaugh against Musselburgh 2nds – the team they’ve knocked from the number one spot.

Colleges went ahead in the 8th minute with a try by fly-half Gavin Tainsh, which he also converted, but a blistering 65-metre break by Jy Griffin from a blindside interception saw the Selkirk centre touch down in the corner.

Two of Selkirk key men were half-backs Mikey Davies and Rory Hamilton, both of whom were making their first appearances of the season. An equally big impact was made by debutant teenage prop Moray Haldane, whose powerful scrummaging swung the set piece decisively in Selkirk’s favour.

After the break Selkirk went 8-7 ahead from a David Cassidy penalty, before Griffin sprinted over for his second try after good lead-up work by Kieran Thomson and Jamie Turnbull. Cassidy’s conversion made it 15-7 to the visitors.

With the back row of Josh Mackay, Andrew Davidson and Robert Cook putting in a power of work, Selkirk were rarely out of the Stewart’s Melville half throughout the second period.

The result was finally put beyond doubt when wing Mark Rutter burst through the home defences on the stand side to score Selkirk’s third try, with Cassidy bringing out full points to set the seal on a famous victory.

“That has to be one of the best wins of my career as a coach,” Selkirk’s Darren Hoggan said after the match.

“We fronted up, the players got stuck in, and what’s especially pleasing is seeing a 17-year-old prop come in and dominate a scrum.

“Now we’ve set our standard on the field, we should be looking to get better. A fair number of players are due to come back in the coming weeks, so there’s going to be a lot of competition for places and this has to be a good thing for any team.”

SELKIRK ‘A’ – D. Cassidy, N. Armstrong, J. Griffin, , H. Aynsley, M. Rutter, L. Blair, M. Francis, K. Thomson, J. Turnbull, M. Mackay, R. Cook, A. Davidson, J. Mackay. Replacements: M. Haldane, P. Smail.