You couldn't even blame Gala's Andy McLean for his last-minute conversion miss which would have tied the score as the rain came down in sheets making every manoeuvre difficult. But on the whole, the rugby flowed as surely as the rain in what was an excellent advertisement for the Border League.
Of course, the two sides have a long history of hammer-and-tongs battles and this one was no exception. With 30 seconds gone, two separate scraps broke out in the middle of the pitch but referee Alan Williamson settled things down quickly, speaking to both captains.
With five minutes on the clock, Melrose opened the scoring. Scott Ruthven's high ball slid through Chris Dalgleish's hands and Scott Wight was quick to capitalize by touching down. Ruthven added the conversion.
Andy McLean had a chance to narrow the gap with a 14th minute penalty after Gala began to glue some moves together, but six minutes later, the Maroons were level. They produced a massive drive from a line out and Alan Johnston was the player who touched the ball down, McLean slotting the extra points.
Gala's style of pick and drive play was proving to be the one which worked best on the day, but 'Rose were passing the ball about really well and moving slickly off the ball despite the conditions.
Just after the half hour mark, the referee made his only big blunder. After a scrap between James Murphy and Jamie Henderson, Mr Williamson produced yellow cards for Murphy and Chris Weir, who was nowhere near.
Ruthven regained Melrose's lead a minute from the break with a penalty, but it was still certainly game on.
Five minutes after the interval, John Dalziel nicked the ball from a 'Rose line out on half way, and the visitors produced a series of great passes until Chris Dalgleish spotted a gap and ran through it to take the lead for the first time, however, McLean's conversion attempt was fairly poor.
Melrose then threw everything at Gala and despite some brave stops by the Maroons – including a fantastic try-saving tackle on Andrew Skeen by Andy McLean – the home side eventually came good.
In two crazy minutes, Gala were left reeling as 'Rose scored twice.
First, Scott Ruthven's kick ahead was caught cleanly by Robert Pollock who went on to score. Then Gala left the ball exposed at the back of a ruck, Dodds picked it up, the ball was moved quickly to Wight who scored his second of the day.
As both of Ruthven's conversions were successful, Gala were on the wrong end of a 12-point gap with only 19 minutes left.
Ian Berthinussen's try five minutes from time set up a thrilling finish. It came after a period of concerted pressure on the Melrose line. Gavin Dalgleish scooped the ball into Berti's path and he crashed over. McLean's conversion was unfortunately a tad short.
And one minute into injury time, who else but Gala's inspirational boss George Graham crashed over for another try, setting up McLean's last effort. He didn't get a true connection and it sailed wide of the left post, but McLean will be his own harshest critic.
Relieved Melrose coach Andy Henderson said following the match: "We knew we would have a massive fight up front with the Gala pack and it was going to be every bit as physical in the backs.
"We've got a really good bunch of boys who really want to turn out and play well for the jersey. We're trying to make the jersey as important as we can – it's psychological.
Melrose: A. Skeen; R. Pollock (B. McKerchar 76 mins), S. Wight, J. Rimmer, G. Thomson; S. Ruthven, J. Weston; R. Higgins, J. Murphy, J. Hopgood (I. Cornwall 73 mins), G. Dodds, S. Aitken (J. Bradburn 61 mins), S. Johnson, K. Brown and G. Davies.
Gala: S. Paterson; C. Dalgleish, I. Berthinussen, D. Gray (G. Dalgleish 10 mins), L. Kibble; A. McLean, T. Stuck; A. Johnston, P. McDonald, G. Cross (G. Graham 57 mins), J. Anderson, C. Weir, T. Weir, J. Dalziel and J. Henderson.