Peebles dig deep to find good form at The Gytes against an improving Lasswade side

Lasswade............................7

Peebles welcomed Hawthornden side Lasswade to The Gytes, who were hoping to make it three wins in a row.

They knew it was always going to be a big ask, however – Peebles were responsible for Biggar’s single defeat so far – at Biggar – and they had won five and drawn one of their six home fixtures.

The first 20 minutes were an even affair, with play in all parts of the field, and Peebles showed respect for their opponents by asking Raeburn to shoot penalties at goal when offered – the second being at the start of the second quarter.

The first try came from Lasswade, though, when some combination play by backs and forwards forced a penalty on the home five metre.

Nick Elliot tapped and took all by surprise to touch down wide out. Matt Smith’s penalty brushed the top side of the crossbar to put the visitors 6-7 in the lead.

Perhaps realising this wasn’t going to be the pushover that previous form might suggest, Peebles upped their game and, virtually from the restart, ran the ball back and Brown opened their try account as the half hour ticked up. Raeburn made a seven of it to lead 13-7.

Lasswade’s defensive structure and tackling was impressive and Peebles needed to find good angles in order to break through, which they managed twice more before the break, with tries by Murray Brown and Jack Harrison. Both were converted by Raeburn to bring up 27-7 as the half time score.

Both try lines were frequently under threat throughout the second half and it looked set to be a 0-0 draw but, with just minutes left, Anderson finessed his way through the centre and had Hogarth on hand to take the offload and ground the bonus point try under the posts, for Raeburn to round off the scoring.