​​Third derby of season next up for Gala and Melrose

​Gala were the only senior Borders rugby team in action on Saturday but they didn’t actually get going until halfway through their game at Biggar and they were 18-0 down by then, leaving them facing an uphill struggle.
By Darin Hutson
Published 9th Jan 2024, 18:11 BST
Updated 9th Jan 2024, 19:04 BST
Gala getting a tackle in during their 21-14 defeat at Biggar on Saturday (Photo: Nigel Pacey)Gala getting a tackle in during their 21-14 defeat at Biggar on Saturday (Photo: Nigel Pacey)
Gala getting a tackle in during their 21-14 defeat at Biggar on Saturday (Photo: Nigel Pacey)

The Borderers got on top of their South Lanarkshire hosts after the break but it proved to be too little too late as they ended up on the wrong side of a 21-14 scoreline.

As well as seeing Biggar make amends for their 35-21 defeat in the reverse fixture in Galashiels in September, that result lifted them above Gala in Scottish National League Division 1.

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They’re both on 34 points but Biggar go up to seventh place by virtue of a points-scored difference two better, with Gala dropping to third from bottom. The Netherdale outfit have a game in hand, however, having played 14 to Biggar’s 15.

Captain Andy Jardine and Morris McDiarmid scored first-half tries for Biggar, with Euan Bogle adding a conversion and three penalties and Owen McLeish kicked a further penalty after the interval.

Centre Cammy Pate touched down at the double for Gala, with replacement Russell Kerr converting both, to take the visitors to within four points of Biggar but that was as close as they got to turning the game around and they had to make do with a losing bonus point come the final whistle.

Next up for Gala – at home this coming Saturday, with kick-off at 3pm – is their third Borders derby of this season against Melrose and it’s their last chance to get the better of their regional rivals after losing to them twice at the Greenyards, by 53-31 in the reverse fixture, a Border League double-header, in September and by 15-10 in the Waverley Cup last month.

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Melrose, out of action since that Boxing Day cup game, go into this weekend’s derby sitting second in National 1, with 44 points from 14 matches.

Gala captain Angus Dun was disappointed by his side’s sluggish start at Hartree Mill and expects better this weekend, telling Borders Rugby TV: “When we came out for that first half, I think we got a wee bit of a shock, it being our first game back in 2024.

“Fair play to Biggar, they fired the shots far quicker and we didn’t do enough to counteract that.

“Ahead of the second half, we spoke about what we wanted to do and we came out and did it but it was just too little too late, I suppose.

“We can’t allow a first half to happen like that.”

Related topics:BorderersBiggarBordersGalashiels