Hawick Youth warm up for national cup semi-final with 17th win out of 17 in semi-junior league

Hawick Youth's Scott Young taking down Peebles Colts prop Ben White on Saturday (Photo: Bill McBurnie)

That result made it 17 wins out of 17 for Hawick this Borders Semi-Junior Rugby League season, keeping them six points clear of Gala Wanderers at the top of the table.

Gala are now on 28 points from 17 games after walloping Selkirk Youth Club 76-8 at the weekend.

Third-placed Melrose Wasps missed out on an opportunity to close the gap on Gala after losing 34-22 away to Jed Thistle.

The two other league games played were a 27-24 win for Kelso Harlequins at Tynedale Colts and a 31-14 home defeat for Carlisle Colts by Morpeth Colts, with Alnwick Colts being awarded a 22-0 away win against Duns Colts following their prospective hosts’ merger with Jed Thistle.

Attention turns to national trophy competitions this coming Saturday for three of the Borders’ semi-junior sides.

Hawick host West of Scotland for a national under-18 cup semi-final at the town’s Volunteer Park, and Melrose and Gala are in national youth shield action, also at home, against Whitecraigs and Dumfries Saints respectively, with all three games kicking off at 2pm.

Three league games are lined up too, though only one involves representatives of the region.

Also kicking off at 2pm, they are Alnwick Colts v Carlisle Colts, Morpeth Colts v Tynedale Colts and fifth-placed Kelso Harlequins v second-bottom Jed Thistle.