Third time lucky as Jed-Forest notch up first win of season, but Hawick lose out in Edinburgh

That 56-39 victory puts them eighth in the 10-team table, with six points from three games, ahead of a trip to Troon in South Ayrshire this Saturday to play league leaders Marr, currently on 15 points from four matches. Kick-off is at 3pm.

The nine tries that won that bottom-of-the table battle for the Jedburgh side were scored by Lewis Young, Mason Cullen, Robbie Shirra-Gibb, Garry Young, Gregor Young, Aiden Bambrick and Gary Munro, plus a brace from Paulo Ferreira, with Munro converting four and adding a penalty.

The Borderers’ captain, Gregor Young, was delighted to get a win under their belts at the third time of asking, telling Borders Rugby TV: “It was actually a pretty good game. If you were a neutral fan there, you’d have seen quite a good few tries, but we certainly came out on top.

“I wouldn’t say it was our best performance but it was back to kind of normal Jed-Forest.

“Aberdeen’s such a tough place to come up to and we probably haven’t had the better record these past few years, but it was good to come up and get a win. We would have taken three tries and a win but to get the bonus point was even better.

“To be honest, it was probably a must-win for us coming off the back of two defeats. The Edinburgh Accies one was just a pretty all-round bad performance and then last week could have went either way, so it was good to just get the win and hopefully we can move forward from there.

“Confidence is pretty high now so we just need to build on it and keep moving forward.

“We all know the situation. It’s one win​​​​​​​ and we’re going to need a good few more if we want to stay in the league. It’s just a case of building on this and moving forward.​​​​​​​

“Away to Marr next week is probably going to be the hardest test of this season so far. They’re a really good side and they’ve got a pretty clean record at home, so it’ll be a tough test for us but we’ll be confident going into next weekend.”

Hawick weren’t so fortunate on their travels, going down 42-29 to Edinburgh Academical at the capital’s Raeburn Place.

That was the Greens’ second defeat on the road this season, leaving them fifth in the Premiership with 11 points from four games​​​, and head coach Matty Douglas wants to see an improvement in their away form.

“We were in the game in the first half and then we switched off for five minutes at the start of the second half and lost two scores and they were 20-odd points clear so it’s a mountain to climb,” he said.

“I thought we were pretty good for parts of the game but, at the same time, there were a lot of mistakes and it’s hard to claw a game back when Accies are throwing the ball around well.

“I’m just disappointed again. It’s away from home and that seems to be our bugbear – two wins at home and two defeats away from home.

“I’m really disappointed and I think the boys will be as well. It’s hard to take when you’re in a game for so long and you ship all those points in the space of five minutes.

“We weren’​​​​​​​t good enough to win today and that’s the truth, but the games come thick and fast and we’ve got a chance to right those wrongs next weekend.”

Hawick’s tries were scored by captain Matt Carryer, Ronan McKean, Glen Welsh, Gareth Welsh and Bailey Donaldson, with Kirk Ford converting two.

Next up for Hawick is a home game against Glasgow Hawks this Saturday, kicking off at 3pm.