Selkirk now six points adrift at foot of table after 41-12 derby defeat at Gala

That 41-12 derby defeat at Netherdale at the weekend leaves head coach Derek O’Riordan’s Souters on seven points from as many fixtures two matches ahead of this term’s halfway mark, half a dozen behind second-from-bottom Glasgow High Kelvinside.

Opposite number Ewen Robbie’s Maroons move up one place to third in the table, on 26 points from seven games.

Head coach Michael Harshaw’s Jed-Forest remain seventh, now on 17 points from seven fixtures, after losing 36-29 away to fifth-placed Biggar on Saturday but picking up two bonus points in the process.

Gala have got a second derby in the space of a week coming up this Saturday, at Jedburgh’s Riverside Park, and Selkirk are at home to undefeated table-toppers Stirling County, both 3pm kick-offs.

Hooker Dylan Homan at the double, full-back Jack Niven, inside-centre John Turnbull, loosehead prop Gavin Fisher, scrum-half Callum McNeill and left-winger Cameron Brydon scored Gala’s tries, with Brydon adding three conversions.

Blindside flanker Cammy Forster and replacement Keir Thomson touched down the visitors’ consolation efforts, one of them converted by scrum-half Oliver McClymont.

Jed’s try-scorers in South Lanarkshire were inside-centre Owen Cranston at the double, blindside flanker Ben Ballantyne, lock Robbie Thomson and outside-centre Logan Kerr, with openside flanker Finn Scott adding two conversions.

Scoring at the other end of the field for their Hartree Mill hosts were Conor Lavery and Jamie Tucker at the double, Cammy Gray and Luhann Kotze, with Finlay Crozier adding two conversions and Ruari Watson supplying another.

A division down, Peebles were beaten 29-14 at home to table-toppers Highland at the Gytes on Saturday as the Inverness outfit kept up their 100% start to the season with a seventh bonus-point win from as many games.

Left-winger Louis Whyte and inside-centre Jack Harrison scored tries for head coach Graeme Paterson’s hosts, both converted by fly-half Liam Irvine.

Touching down tries for the visitors were Roddy Thomson, Hugo Crush, Adriu Muritoki and Owen McDonald, with Scott Fraser converting all three and kicking a penalty too.

That second defeat of this term leaves the Pees fourth in Arnold Clark National League Division 2, on 23 points from seven matches, ahead of a trip west to second-placed Newton Stewart this coming Saturday, with kick-off at 3pm.