Thistle deflect cross-border raid to reach competition final

Jed Thistle 41
Jed Thistle winger Scott Murdoch with the ball (picture by Bill McBurnie)Jed Thistle winger Scott Murdoch with the ball (picture by Bill McBurnie)
Jed Thistle winger Scott Murdoch with the ball (picture by Bill McBurnie)

Tyndale Colts 12

Having already defeated Carlisle in round one of the Border Cup, it was left to Jed Thistle to thwart a cross-border challenge from Tynedale Colts.

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The Thistle, having successfully beaten their opponents in December last year by 77-5, soon recognised that this was not the same Tynedale squad.

Nonetheless, the Thistle lads knuckled down to get on with the task at hand.

Tynedale kicked off with the wind behind them and the Thistle were soon on the attack.

However, Tynedale were first to put points on the board when a chip through from the Thistle was blocked and scooped up to feed their backs, allowing them the first score in the corner.

The conversion was unsuccessful.

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Thistle took the restart and were soon rewarded with a penalty in the Tynedale half. They kicked to touch and it was from this lineout that the hosts secured their first points with a try from Owen Cranston, converted by Ross Nichol.

Tynedale restarted and the Thistle began to shuffle the ball through the forwards until Steven Anderson eventually broke the line for the second try, although the goal extras could not be added.

The ball was cleanly taken at the restart by the forwards and the Thistle were soon back in the Tynedale half.

The backs then moved the ball out quickly to Scott Murdoch on the wing, who sailed in for the hosts’ third try – conversion unsuccessful – to put them 17-5 up.

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Tynedale got themselves back in to the game when control was lost at a scrum for the Thistle and the ball popped out the back, to be picked up by Tynedale for their second try, which was converted.

Thistle were soon back on the attack, hitting the Tynedale defence hard and making good ground through the forwards.

The Tynedale defence soon opened up to allow Eliot Lauder to power through under the posts for the fourth try, converted by Ross Nichol, to make the half-time score 24-12 in Thistle’s favour.

The second half saw a good 20 minutes of hard, physical play from both sides before there were any more points.

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Thistle received a penalty at the posts when Tynedale took a man out off the ball.

Tynedale tempers began to flare and they were soon down to 14 men for some unsportsmanlike conduct.

The Thistle slot the penalty through the boot of Ross Nichol to make it 27-12.

From a line out on the Thistle 10-metre line, taken cleanly by Clark Douglas, the Thistle started a text book attack, driving forward until the ball exited to the backs and out to Scott Murdoch, who dummied the winger and full back to glide in under the posts for the fifth try, successfully converted by Nichol.

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Tynedale came back hard at the Thistle but the defence was solid, forcing mistakes from the Tynedale backs, until Jamie Ferguson linked up with Cranston to go in under the posts for the sixth and final try of the day, converted by Nichol.