Under 18s slip to second defeat

“It was an improvement on our first game [against Caledonia] but we’ve still got someway to go” said coach Ross Miller, adding, “We’re hoping to have several key players back for the final round match against Edinburgh next Tuesday.”

Borders were without the Hawick Wanderers’ back Darcy Graham and the Jed-Thistle scrum half Gary Munro , who are both in the national under-18 squad, in addition to several other top performers, among them the Hawick Wanderers’ centre Sean Chapman, who injured a hamstring muscle playing for Hawick High School against Galashiels Academy in the Brewin Dolphin under-18 regional Plate quarter final.

Against Glasgow Borders/East Lothian looked to be in command in the opening phases of the match but their only reward was a penalty by the Hawick Wanderers’ stand-off Kyle Brunton, quickly answered by a converted try for Glasgow by the St Aloysius College flanker Nick Moore. But before the break Borders/East Lothian hit back with a try by the North Berwick prop Finn Hobbis for a 8-7 interval lead.

Two tries by the Ayr centre Gregor Paxton put Glasgow in the driving seat but a late effort by Borders resulted in a try by the Melrose centre Thomas Klein converted by Brunton to round off the scoring.