38-20 home win v Dundee lifts Peebles out of relegation zone as Arnold Clark National League Division 1 rugby season nears end

​Head coach Graeme Paterson’s seventh-placed Pees – now up one place to seventh, on 30 points from 15 fixtures – aren’t out of danger yet, though, as they’re only above third-from-bottom Highland on points-scored difference and they’re only two points better off than second-bottom Boroughmuir.

Their destiny is largely in their own hands, however, as two of their three fixtures left are against two of the three teams now below them – at Boroughmuir on Saturday, February 22, at 2pm, and at Highland on Saturday, March 1, at 3pm.

Paterson is glad to have put a bit of distance between his club, promoted as champions last summer, and the trapdoor leading back to National 2 but is warning his players that they’re far from home and dry yet, saying: “It’s good but we’re obviously not resting on any laurels or anything like that yet.

“It’ll go week by week. Between now and the end of the season, there could be a fair bit of change in those three places weekly, I would say, and ourselves, Highland and Boroughmuir could all jump over each other at the drop of a hat really.

“On paper, the run-in we’ve got is better than having to play all of the three teams at the top of the table instead of just one of them.

“It focuses our minds to just go out and say ‘right, we’ve got to win these ones as these teams are round about us and it’s a double-whammy if we win and beat a team also in that fight. It’s almost a double-hit, which is great if it comes off but doubly bad if it doesn’t. We’ll obviously be going out for that double-hit.”

Peebles were the division’s only Borderers to come up trumps at the weekend, with both head coach Ewen Robbie’s Gala and opposite number Stuart Johnson’s Jed-Forest losing out on the road, the former by 43-10 at second-placed Stirling County and the latter by 52-24 at third-placed Glasgow Academicals.

Gala are fourth on 42 points and Jed fifth on 41, both from 16 fixtures, and though neither are mathematically safe from relegation yet, they’re as good as there as it would require three bonus-point wins in as many games for Peebles, Highland or Boroughmuir to threaten to overtake them.

The three sets of Borderers’ run-ins to the end of the rugby season starts with a visit from table-toppers Glasgow Hutchesons’ Aloysians for Gala and away-days at third-placed Glasgow Academicals for Peebles and against Boroughmuir for Jed.

Kick-off at Netherdale is at 3pm and it’s an hour earlier in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Gala’s sole try-scorer at Bridgehaugh Park was blindside flanker Tim McKavanagh, with fly-half Russell Kerr kicking a conversion and penalty.

Touching down for Jed in Glasgow were fly-half Aaron Weatherhead at the double, openside flanker Finn Scott and lock and captain Clark Skeldon, with Scott adding two conversions.

Outside-centre James Dow at the double, openside flanker Rob Harrison, lock Ross Brown and replacements Kell Maciver and Andy Duncan scored for Peebles at the Gytes, with right-winger Frey Maciver kicking four conversions.