Kelso now just a point away from promotion to rugby’s Tennent’s Premiership

The Borderers’ 25-10 victory at Old Anniesland puts them ten points clear of second-placed Ayr, so a draw in their last game of the current Tennent’s National League Division 1 season – away to Highland on Saturday, April 15, with kick-off at 3pm – would be enough to secure the title.

Kelso are currently on 92 points from 21 fixtures and have got a points difference 87 better than Ayr’s, so even two bonus-point wins wouldn’t necessarily be enough for their west coast rivals, on 82 points but with a game in hand at the moment, to overtake them if they slip up in Inverness.

The South Ayrshire club’s two remaining games are away to Gala on Saturday, April 22, and at Edinburgh’s Stewart’s Melville the Saturday after, both 3pm kick-offs.

Saturday’s game only went ahead because GHK pulled out of a scheduled Scottish cup quarter-final tie away to Hawick fearing that their squad wouldn’t be up to that challenge and they proved unable to match former Greens captain Bruce McNeil’s current team either.

Tries by Charlie Marshall at the double, Nik Stingl and Dwain Patterson, plus a conversion by Patterson and a penalty kicked by Murray Hastie, won the game for the visitors.

Angus Cooper and Gus North scored their hosts’ tries, both unconverted.

Kelso head coach Kevin Utterson was glad to see his side head home from Glasgow with five points, telling Borders Rugby TV afterwards: “It’s what we came for, five points. It’s a massive five points going forward.

“The first half was a bit stop-start but we went in at half-time winning 10-5 in spite of quite a strong wind so we couldn’t complain.

“In the second half, we got our structure going a bit and we got the four tries that we deserved, but GHK kept coming. They were having a go, they were taking quick taps, they didn’t have anything to lose, so, to be fair, it was a battle.

“There’s a saying that good teams win ugly, and that was the protocol today. It was all about getting the five points. We’d talked about that all week and you could see there was a nervy edge there early doors. The boys knew how important the game was.

“All in all all, we’re happy and we’ve got those five points.”

Looking ahead to the weekend after next, former Scotland international Utterson added: “It’s in our own hands, but Inverness is a very, very hard place to go.

“We’ve picked up a few injuries but we’ll regroup and go again.

“We went up there last year with a pretty limited squad and gave them a game, so we’ll be looking forward to the challenge and we’ll go up there and give it everything because it’s the last hurdle we need to get over. We just need to get over that line at Inverness.”

Kelso won the reverse fixture at Poynder Park versus Highland by 24-21 in October but enjoyed mixed fortunes against them the season before, winning 43-3 at home in September 2021 but losing 32-20 on the road three months later.