Hawick stay third in rugby's Tennent's Premiership after second derby win of season but Selkirk second bottom after fourth loss on trot

This season’s second Borders derby in rugby’s Tennent’s Premiership went the same way as the first, with Hawick emerging triumphant at home at Mansfield Park.
Hawick's Jae Linton on the ball against Jed-Forest on Saturday (Photo: Bill McBurnie)Hawick's Jae Linton on the ball against Jed-Forest on Saturday (Photo: Bill McBurnie)
Hawick's Jae Linton on the ball against Jed-Forest on Saturday (Photo: Bill McBurnie)

The Greens followed up their 23-22 win against Selkirk last month by beating Jed-Forest 24-7 on Saturday, and that result puts them third in the table with 23 points from seven games, six behind league leaders Marr.

Morgan Tait, Ronan McKean and captain Matt Carryer scored tries for Hawick, with Kirk Ford adding three conversions and a penalty.

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Robbie Shirra-Gibb got their Jedburgh visitors’ only try in reply, with Gary Munro adding the extras.

Hawick's Jae Linton evades a challenge from Jed-Forest's Gregor Law, supported by Kyle Brunton (Pic: Bill McBurnie)Hawick's Jae Linton evades a challenge from Jed-Forest's Gregor Law, supported by Kyle Brunton (Pic: Bill McBurnie)
Hawick's Jae Linton evades a challenge from Jed-Forest's Gregor Law, supported by Kyle Brunton (Pic: Bill McBurnie)

It was the classic game of two halves as the hosts, dominant in the first 40 minutes, went in 17-0 up at the interval, but had to contend with much more pressure from Jed-Forest after the restart.

Hawick stand-off Bailey Donaldson was satisfied with Saturday’s win, telling Borders Rugby TV: “We love playing here and the standards we set ourselves for the folk in the crowd are just a given now.

“We’ve worked on it and set out our stall early in the season for standards and everything and I think that shows in the performances we’ve had since the first couple of games.

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“We’ve had a bit of a rocket and then just built on performances, taking a win and taking a win and that’s three in a row now, so we’re chuffed.”

Jed prop Paulo Ferreira was less chuffed, admitting that his side’s lacklustre first-half showing had given them too much ground to make up in the second half.

“I don’t think we were quite ready for what they brought in the first half,” he said.

“It kind of caught us off guard, but big credit to Hawick, we didn’t expect that. They put us on the back foot straight away from the opening minute.

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“It’s always tough coming here and it’s great. It’s really good rugby, it’s hard rugby and today unfortunately we were just on the wrong end.

Hawick captain Matt Carryer on the ball versus Jed-Forest (Photo: Bill McBurnie)Hawick captain Matt Carryer on the ball versus Jed-Forest (Photo: Bill McBurnie)
Hawick captain Matt Carryer on the ball versus Jed-Forest (Photo: Bill McBurnie)

“We tried everything we could. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t get over the line.

“We should have been a lot better than we were today. We know we’ve got a lot more to prove and we’re a lot better rugby team than what we played today, so hopefully in the coming weeks we’ll be able to show that.”

Selkirk slumped to their fourth defeat on the trot at home to Edinburgh Academical, losing 27-24 after going in 17-12 ahead at half-time, leaving them second bottom of the table with seven points from five games.

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The Souters haven’t won since their first game of the current Premiership season, a 32-21 home victory against Musselburgh back on Saturday, September 11, but they’ll be hoping their fortunes pick up once their injury list shortens.

Ben Pickles, Andrew Bulman and Bruce Riddell scored Selkirk’s tries, with Scott Clark converting two of them and Calum Anderson one and Clark adding a penalty.

Forwards coach Darren Hoggan told the club website: “We know we’re missing key players but that’s no excuse. You have what you have and you just get on with it. I think we’ll get better, but it’s not nice to be beaten at Philiphaugh.

“We weren’t clinical enough and didn’t take our chances when we had them. That’s pretty much been the story of our season so far.”

“Right now it’s hard to take positives away from today. We managed to get a bonus point and it doesn’t look as though we picked up any injuries, so that’s a plus.”