​Melrose bow out of rugby’s Scottish National League Division 1 with loss on road

​Melrose’s last game in rugby’s Scottish National League Division 1 prior to returning to the sport’s premiership this summer after a five-year absence saw them beaten 26-22 at Glasgow Academicals on Saturday.
By Darin Hutson
Published 19th Mar 2024, 16:55 GMT
Updated 19th Mar 2024, 16:57 GMT
Douglas Crawford, pictured playing for Southern Knights away to Boroughmuir Bears in August 2022, scored one of Melrose's four tries versus Glasgow Academicals on Saturday (Pic: Simon Wootton/SNS Group/SRU)Douglas Crawford, pictured playing for Southern Knights away to Boroughmuir Bears in August 2022, scored one of Melrose's four tries versus Glasgow Academicals on Saturday (Pic: Simon Wootton/SNS Group/SRU)
Douglas Crawford, pictured playing for Southern Knights away to Boroughmuir Bears in August 2022, scored one of Melrose's four tries versus Glasgow Academicals on Saturday (Pic: Simon Wootton/SNS Group/SRU)

​Fly-half Roly Brett, winger Matty Bertram, centre Patrick Anderson and scrum-half Douglas Crawford scored tries for head coach Iain Chisholm’s side at New Anniesland, with Crawford adding one conversion.

The visitors’ efforts to sign off for the season on as high a note as they could manage were hampered by three second-half yellow cards – for lock Thomas Brown for a high tackle, winger Harry Makowski for a deliberate knock-on and replacement Andrew Bradfield for a tip-tackle – with their hosts also hit by a sin-binning, for Guy Davis for a high tackle.

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The four-try bonus point that defeat earned the Borderers sees them end their farewell second-tier campaign fifth in the ten-team table, level with sixth-placed Watsonians, also premiership-bound, on 53 points from 18 fixtures.

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Next up for them is a Border League game at home at the Greenyards to premiership play-off semi-finalists Kelso this Friday, with kick-off at 7.30pm.

Melrose go into that game second to Hawick in the regional competition, on ten points from three games, three league places and two points better off than their visitors.

That’s followed by a trip to Hawick a week on Friday, also at 7.30pm, and a visit from Jed-Forest on a date to be arranged.

Jed are also in action this Friday, hosting Peebles at 7.30pm.

Related topics:Division 1MelroseBorderers