Peebles 17

Preston Lodge 27

Allan Beveridge

at The Gytes

IN recent weeks Peebles have been starting slowly and playing 'catch-up' rugby.

On Saturday that went into reverse, although the outcome was the same.

Peebles started well against Preston Lodge and were a try up early on when, following a mistake by the visitors, Stuart Hunter picked up the loose ball and fed, through Keiran Brown, James Dow to score out wide.

The home joy didn't last long as the visitors ran in their own try a short time later through Robertson.

Gordon's conversion gave them the lead.

Rohan Maciver and Richard Harrison had been forced to move from the back row to fill the void of Peebles' missing second rows.

And the lack of 'beef' in the home pack did give Preston Lodge a distinct advantage.

Despite being pushed back a few times it was Peebles who were to score next.

Harrison touched down after good ball handling and running by Callum Anderson, James Dow, Stuart Hunter and Ryan Stewart.

Greg Raeburn added the conversion for a 12-7 lead.

Peebles defended well against the bigger pack, but a yellow card for Maciver on the half hour allowed the visitors to strike again.

A quick tap penalty eventually led to Jack Pollard crashing over.

The successful conversion gave Preston Lodge a 12-14 lead.

Despite being a man down Peebles defended well, and just before half time they were rewarded for their efforts with David Collins racing in to score near the touchline.

The 17-12 advantage didn't last long in the second half as pressure eventually led to Pollard going over for his second try.

Gordon added the conversion then a penalty to give his team a 17-22 lead.

Preston Lodge secured victory with six minutes remaining as Steele collected a miss pass to touch down.

Peebles almost snatched the losing bonus point back deep in injury time but David Anderson knocked on as he attempted to cross the line.

It's not been a good couple of weeks for Peebles as a shortage of players in pivotal positions has proved costly.

This weekend Peebles travel to Dumfries Saints.

Peebles: Callum Anderson, James Dow, Murray Brown, Donald Anderson, David Collins, Greg Raeburn, David Wills, Neil Hogarth, Ryan Stuart, Jamie Menzies, Rohan Maciver, Richard Harrison, Stuart Hunter, Murdo Anderson & Keiran Brown. Reps: Partick Harrison, Scott Stoddart, David Anderson & Roddy Guiney.