Hawick 38

Melrose 3

Atholl Innes

at Mansfield Park

MELROSE officials left Mansfield Park on Saturday not in total disbelief; but what most would have seen as ‘shadow’ XV were demoralised by a Hawick side which retained its Premiership status.

Now Hawick head coach George Graham will start planning for another season in the Premiership after an amazing win that put club rugby into perspective.

Why should clubs be asked to play a key game with so much at stake less than 24 hours after a Club International which featured seven players from Melrose and one from Hawick?

Graham, who signed a new contract last week to stay at Hawick, did not complain.

But the scenario had been set as his side swamped the opposition with six tries on a bitterly cold afternoon of blizzard-type snow showers.

Graham admitted that the team imbalances gave his side an advantage.

He said: “The win was not about performance, but the result.

"I told the boys not to worry about what was happening elsewhere for we were in control of our own destiny.

"I am not stupid enough not to know that Melrose did not have their strongest team, but it is just the way things happen.

“We have not had a lot of luck over the season, but these things come back to help you and we got the result that mattered. It was not the strongest team we could have faced, but you make your own luck.”

Melrose played with the advantage of a strong wind and heavy snow showers to take the lead with a Jason Baggott penalty.

But after Hawick, with the inclusion of two professional players in Allan Dell and Darcy Graham, pulled ahead with a Dell try before half-time, there was only one team in it.

Hawick dominated the second half with tries from Greg Cottrell, Nicki Little, Dell again, Bruce McNeil and Dom Buckley with conversions by Lee Armstrong and Matt Landels, playing his final match before retiring.

Melrose rung the changes in the second half without threatening the home line.

It will possibly be a different story if the clubs meet again this season, although Marr, who were relegated, and Glasgow Hawks, who face a play-off game, will argue that Hawick struck it lucky on the day.

Hawick: D. Graham; G. Munro, K. Davies, D. Buckley, R. Combe; L. Armstrong, G. Cottrell; A. Dell, M. Carryer, N. Little, C. Hamilton, D. Redpath, R. Gibson, B. McNeil, S. Graham. Replacements: F. Renwick, M. Landels, S. Muir, S. Fairbairn, A. Weir.

Melrose: A. Lockington; T. Klein, P. Anderson, G. Wood, R. McCann; J. Baggott, B. Colvine; D. Elkington, R. Ferguson, R. McLeod, A. Welsh, A. Runciman, A. Grieve, R. Campbell, R. Knott. Replacements: B. McLean, J. Dobbie, T. Brown, S. Hutchison, A. Hall.