Derby win at Selkirk keeps Hawick at top of rugby’s Tennent’s Premiership table

The Greens extended their undefeated start to the new campaign with a 17-8 victory against their hosts and that result sees them retain pole position in the table with 38 points from nine games, a whisker in front of second-placed Edinburgh Academical and third-placed Currie Chieftains, both on 37.

Another Borders derby is next up for head coach Matty Douglas’s league leaders, at home to seventh-placed Jed-Forest on Saturday, November 12, with kick-off at 3pm.

Hawick outscored Selkirk by three tries to one at the weekend, with wings Lewis Ferguson and Ronan McKean and full-back Kirk Ford touching down and Ford adding one conversion.

Selkirk’s only try was scored by wing Lachlan Ferguson, with full-back Matt Reid also kicking a penalty.

Ford was pleased to see his side notch up their second derby victory of the season to date, following a 22-12 win at Jed-Forest at the start of September, telling Borders Rugby TV: “That was good. It’s always good to get a win here. It’s a tough place to come. It’s one of the hardest places to visit.

“We’re just happy with the win. Unfortunately we didn’t get the bonus try but it just wasn’t to be.”

“We were trying to play in the right areas and not get dragged into a dog-fight but that never really happened. It was always going to be a tough game. They’re a really stuffy side.

“We got there in the end but we probably didn’t play as well as we’d have liked. We got the win in the end, though, so we can’t complain.”

Looking ahead to hosting Jed-Forest a week on Saturday, he added: “We’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing, put in a couple of hard weeks’ training and see how we go.

“That’ll be another tough game, a typical Border derby, but we’ll just see how it goes on the day and hopefully we’ll get a win.”

Selkirk co-captain Aaron McColm was unhappy about his side failing to convert possession and positive play into points, saying: “I’m disappointed.

“The boys gave everything, in the first half especially, so to come away with nothing is a bit of a kick in the teeth, but credit to Hawick, they came out battling in the second half.

“We tried our hardest, but physically they were really good. We stepped up to the mark and we gave them a game but we were just unfortunate in the end.”

Selkirk’s next match is away to Glasgow Hawks on November 12, with kick-off at 2pm, and it offers the fifth-placed Borderers, currently on 25 points from nine games, an opportunity to leapfrog their hosts, two points and one league place better off than them at the moment.

Looking forward to that away-day after a blank weekend coming up for head coach Scott Wight’s team, McColm added: “We move on, and it’s a massive game against Glasgow Hawks. They won today and went above us.

“We’ll go up there and hopefully get a result. We’ve actually been performing really well on the road and we’ll take that confidence to Glasgow and hopefully get a result there.”