Rugby: Kelso High School 29-12 Caithness Schools

The Tweedsiders sealed the title with a 29-12 win over Caithness Schools.

The opening exchanges provided Kelso with the majority of possession and the team soon capitalised through Andrew Thomson who crossed after an impressive line break. Matt Kindness converted to secure Kelso’s lead.

However, Caithness soon fought back after the forwards began to challenge Kelso’s defence, hooker Jack Macleod crashing over for the try before Stuart Kirk added the extras with the boot after ten minutes.

Kelso responded minutes later, Alex Traynor powering his way through the tackles from metres out and Kindness narrowly missing the conversion.

Kindness then contributed a score of his own after dancing his way past the defence for a try in the 21st minute, the pacey centre converting before a half-time score of 19-7.

In the second-half, both teams took a while to find momentum but it was Kelso who found it first, Dan Gamble crossing after 60 minutes and Traynor securing his second of the game minutes later.

Caithness remained positive and kept the ball in hand to attack Kelso’s defence in the remaining ten minutes, Nathon Quinn eventually coming up with the final score of the match.

Murray Walker, Kelso High School under-16 coach, said: “The boys stuck in right to the end and it was a great game. We are very proud of the team and the school hopes to be back next year if we continue to work hard at this age level.”

Kelso’s Matthew Kindness was named Man of the Match.

Kelso High School: Neil Mallen; Ed Withall, Matt Kindness, Andrew Thomson, Murray Armitage; Liam Herdman (captain), Hamish Tweedie; Cameron Asante, Jack Docherty, Dan Gamble, Alex Traynor, Greg Cessford, Robert Hastie, Cameron Brown, Jack Walker. Replacements: Oliver Pickford, Daniel Ralston, Kris Sanderson, Charlie Ormiston, Mark Hill, Ryan Widdowson-Lewis, Sebastian Scott-Watson.