The team of Philip Addison (captain), Ryan Goodfellow, Steven Graham and David Colvin overcame a strong Melrose first team of Michael Fairburn, Douglas Crawford, Andrew Robertson and Johnny McGowan in the final.

Both teams had been hit with selection issues after Earlston lost their number one player – a gutted Lewis Armstrong, who was off on a school trip to Barcelona – leaving the team with an issue of who to play and in which order.

Addison had no hesitation in bringing in Ryan Goodfellow, who has only played in one match previous to the final, and this proved to be a masterstroke by the Earlston skipper.

It was Goodfellow who kept Earlston in touch with a valuable win in the singles, which meant the score after the first round of games was 3-1 with only the two doubles left to play.

Melrose were without Blair Hutchinson, who had been ever-present in the squad this year, for the same reason as Armstrong.

Earlston took both doubles matches, tying the match at three rubbers each and even on sets, meaning the tie had to be decided on games won – Earlston taking the countback by 40 games to 38.

The tie had some interesting battles – the most notable being against the two number one players on the day.

Michael Fairburn beat Philip Addison, but it took a third set tie-break to do so, which he won 10-8.

The match was well poised with Melrose having one hand on the title, but the Earlston players rallied hard to win both doubles.

Earlston were fortunate to come out the better of the two sides but deservedly lifted the title for the first time in the club’s history.

Club chairperson Sheila Whiteford said: “Things are going well at this time with the juniors and we are trying to make a difference where we can.

“The club is small, but has a good structure which allows some good development opportunities for the players, especially the younger ones who get up to three sessions a week in the winter and some of those being one-to-one with qualified coaches.

“It always helps when you win things and hopefully we can keep the development going and look to win more district titles next year.”