DERBY DAY AT ANNAN

VIOLETBANK is set to host a bruising battle between local rivals Annan and near neighbours Dumfries.
The sides clash in a National Division 1 match and it is a game that will go into the record books.
A victory for Annan could dent the promotion hopes of Dumfries who are fighting for promotion to the Premier League.
It is the fist time the two teams have met in a league match at Annan with the home side looking for revenge promotion seeking Dumfries lifted the points at Park Farm earlier in the season.
Annan president Don Barty said last night: "It's a really big game and we are looking forward to it very much.
"Dumfries are right up there challenging for promotion but they have more games under their belt and are going really well. It looks as if it will be between them and Langholm for the second spot in the promotion race at this stage."
He added: "This will be the first time that we have played them in a league match at Violetbank.
"It is a local 'derby' and it adds a bit of extra bite to it."
Despite their defeat away to Murrayfield Amateurs last weekend, the Annan squad will be up this clash.
In addition
These fixture has an added incentive as the Annan club has put up a trophy for what is hoped will become an annual fixture.
The trophy is the A.A. MacPherson Memorial Trophy and is in memory of the late Alex MacPherson (Mac) who died last year. Mac was President of the Annan club in 1983-84 and also had associations with the Dumfries club.
In the first ever league encounter between the two clubs in October Annan came off second best against a strong well drilled Dumfries side and will be looking to redress the balance on Saturday at Violetbank.
Russell Marchant, the immediate past president and senior rugby secretary at Dumfries said: "We won the match earlier in the season and obviously we are going for promotion.
"We're desperate to repeat the act on Saturday but it is going to be quite a high pressure game."
Dumfries have won promotion in the past five seasons and are hoping they can make it six and reach the Premier division.
He added: "While Annan are near the bottom of the table they have many postponed fixtures to catch up on. In addition they will need no extra motivation to lift their game to avoid Dumfries doing the double on them."

Rugby

REVENGE IS SWEET FOR DUMFRIES

CAITHNESS 3 DUMFRIES SAINTS 24

DUMFRIES got revenge over Caithness who knocked the Saints out of the Cup last season.

Although this league encounter had the same dour Highland weather the outcome was totally different and the Dumfries fans were delighted.

Saints kicked off playing uphill on a very heavy pitch and showed them meant business from the start.

The first ten minutes was mainly all Saints as they probed for a way through but found it very hard to make breaks on the heavy pitch. Tom Hiddleston kicked a penalty to put Saints in the lead but as the half wore on Caithness came back into it and started to use the slope to pin the Saints back. Territorially it was all Caithness but some excellent defence from the Dumfries side kept them at bay.

With 10 minutes left of the half and the Saints on an increasingly rare attack they were penalised for not releasing. It was undoubtedly a harsh decision but indiscipline resulted in them being marched back 10 yards and Jamie Little receiving a yellow card. Roared on by the home crowd Caithness now threw everything at the Saints line.

The 14 Saints produced one of the best periods of Saints defence seen in many a year. They dug in and tackled hard, took their chances to clear their lines when they could and all worked hard for each other. The result was no further score before half time and you could almost see the disappointment on the Caithness faces when they turned round 3-0 down with the slope and 15 men to face now!

Dumfries started the second half well and played controlled mature rugby. Forcing Caithness back with kicks down the slope they applied the pressure. The home side are renowned tacklers themselves but inevitably they conceded penalties, Tom Hiddleston put two over to stretch the lead to 9-0.

From the restart after the second penalty Saints spilled the ball, Caithness took their chance to apply some pressure themselves and got some reward with a penalty for 9-3.
The home side were now fired up and for a ten minute spell threw everything they had at the Saints. Again the defence held firm and soaked up the efforts of the Caithness side.

There was no break for the home side and the few travelling supporters urged the Saints on to go again. Tom Hiddleston sent a long clearing kick downfield, brother Sam chased up and caught his man, the ball was turned over and went through Ben Stanley’s and Jamie Little’s hands before being recycled for Jamie Farquhar to scorch through for a try. 14-3 to the Saints and a mountain to climb for Caithness.

The efforts of the previous period of play showed as Saints now took control and forced Caithness onto the defensive. Another penalty wasn’t long coming and Tom Hiddleston made the game safe at 17-3. With the last play of the match Kenny Henderson intercepted a tired pass and ran in to score under the posts. Hiddleston converted for a well deserved 24-3 win for the Saints.

Coach Tam McGaw said: "This was a game which was won with ten crucial minutes of defence just before half time when the side was down to 14 men. All the squad played their part and especially Ross Daly, playing his first game since April, who was rock solid.

"It would be unfair to single out any individual as they all worked hard to earn this win and no doubt the journey home will be all the easier for it.”

The Dumfries team was - R Dunlop, R Haggarty, K Geddes, B Stanley, D Henderson, S Wight, J Little, S Clanachan, N Goddard, E Bryden, K Henderson, J Farquhar, R Daly, S Hiddleston, T Hiddleston. Subs all used, A Sloan, D Crichton, T Dobui.

HOME GAME FOR ANNAN

ANNAN are at home at Violetbank again this weekend when they entertain Greenock Wanderers in National Division 1.

Greenock have had a poor first half of the season without recording a win and currently prop up the Division. In their fixture at Fort Matilda in September Annan won by a single point (7-6) in a dour match played in miserable conditions.

The Violetbank side will be hoping to put in a better display at Violetbank on Saturday.

Annan 1st XV squad: C Warrick, P Carruthers (C), S Kelly, M Carpenter, R Gracie, E Braid, M Scott, G Smith, M Clark, N Smith, A Jancey, C McCann, M Griffen, J Callaghan, K Jones Replacements: J Nelson, A Dunbar, A.N. Other

Match Reps: A Robertson, C. McCann, C Lake.

Violetbank Action

HAWICK YM LIFT ANNAN TROPHY

HAWICK YM came over from the Borders and lifted the silverware at the annual 15-a-side challenge for the Violetbank Shield.

The event, sponsored by TN Trawlers and Murray Bell, took place in atrocious weather conditions on Saturday. But despite this there was a feast of entertainment for the fans and Hawick YM were worthy winners in the end.

Annan were slow out of the blocks and, despite having a number of scoring chance, lost out narrowly to Hawick YM who scored the clinching try almost on full time.

There was a big improvement in Annan’s play in their other group matches as they defeated Stewartry 10-0 and Netherhall 16-0. The Annan squad will now be looking to sharpen up before their first league match at home to Edinburgh University on 1st September.

Full:

League A
Stewartry 5 v Netherhall 6
Hawick YM 10 v Annan 6
Annan 12 v Stewartry 0
Hawick YM 19 v Netherhall 0
Hawick YM 10 v Stewartry 10
Annan 16 v Netherhall 0

League B
Dumfries 12 v Newton Stewart 7
Hawick Quins 0 v Langholm 24
Langholm 16 v Dumfries 0
Hawick Quins 0 v Newton Stewart 12
Hawick Quins 17 v Dumfries 9
Langholm 5 v Newton Stewart 0

In a keenly contested final Hawick YM put in a tremendous performance to defeat Langhom 8-0 with one try and one penalty.

Moffat Calls

MOFFAT RFC will be staging their annual Tens Tournament at Holm Park, Moffat on Saturday August 18.

It is the traditionally the curtain-raiser for the home club's season and a popular tournament with a history of entertaining, attacking rugby.

This year looks like no exception with no less than three top-class Borders teams competing against senior teams from Dumfries and Galloway plus Moffat's close friends and rivals Dalkeith RFC.

The Holm Park club warmed up for the tournament with a stirring performance against Stewartry at Greenlaw, Castle Douglas last week. 

Second-row forward Scott Borthwick and winger Graham Black made their debuts as the Rams more than held their own against higher-league opposition.  Some excellent forward play helped put Moffat ahead after the first two quarters, but with a pool of only 18 players against Stewartry's 30, legs tired in the final two quarters and Stewartry ran out winners. 

Coach Andy Ferguson was delighted with the quality of the Rams' play: "That was a first-class workout against a National League squad.  There are only positives to take from our performance and it gives us a real platform to build on for the forthcoming season, starting with our own Tens tournament this weekend.   We've established a good relationship with Stewarty and hope this fixture will become a regular in our pre-season calendar".

The draw for the Tens has pitted Moffat against Dalkeith in what should be a very keen contest, whereas the other eye-opener puts Borders sides Selkirk  and trophy holders Boroughmuir together in a tie that should entertain the expected large crowd. 

Elsewhere in the first round, Annan take on Newton Stewart whereas Stewartry have a tough test in the tournament's opening fixture as they take on strong Borders side Melrose.

The tournament kicks off at 12 noon and refreshments and snacks are available throughout the afternoon.  The full draw and timings are:

12.00  Stewartry v Melrose

12.25  Newtown Stewart v Annan

12.50 Moffat v Dalkeith

13.15 Selkirk v Boroughmuir

The winners of the first round ties will compete for the Moffat Tens trophy, whilst first round losers will compete for the Quaich.

Sevens season opens

SELKIRK START WHERE THEY LEFT OFF

SELKIRK, the reigning "Kings of the Sevens" showed that they remain a force to be reckoned with after lifting the opening Sevens Tournament trophy.

The Souters ran out victorious at the Kelso Sevens after "a tough afternoon at the office". The winners cup will be gracing the Philiphaugh trophy cabinet for the second time in three years and indeed, this was the third successive year that Selkirk have reached the final.

The first round tie versus Haddington was anything but a pushover and the first three or four minutes were dominated by the East Lothian team in terms of possession and pressure. They went into a deserved 7-0 lead before Selkirk sprung into action with tries from Ross Nixon and Fraser Harkness. Despite the half-time lead of 12-7, it took a blindside scamper up the touchline from Fraser for his second try to create some daylight in the score line.

Haddington provided a formidable test in this opening round. Captain, Neil Darling claimed his first try of the afternoon on the final whistle to make the full-time score, Selkirk 22 Haddington 7.

A youthful Kelso squad had looked most impressive in their 1st round tie against Earlston but Selkirk moved up a gear or so to eliminate the Tweedsiders on their home soil with a convincing 27-5 score line. Lee Jones and Gavin Craig both bagged braces of tries. Rory Aglen's work rate and physical presence was apparent during the tie and good use of substitutes by coaches, Rodney Pow and Kevin Barrie, gave the Souters a fairly comfortable win and progression to the semi-final stages. Selkirk 27 Kelso 5.

The semi-final clash against Watsonians promised to be a nail-biter as the Myreside outfit had proved to be a real thorn in the flesh in the 2006/2007 "Kings of the Sevens" campaign. However, the Selkirk squad was improving with each tie and a tremendous team effort saw them through to the final on a 26-19 score line. Lee Jones scored another couple of tries and Rory Aglen pitched in with a brace. A late Watsonians try brought the gap down to 7 points, but Selkirk thoroughly deserved their hard-fought victory against the city side. Selkirk 26 Watsonians 19.

Jed had progressed to the final with pride and skill, defeating Berwick, Gala and Melrose in the process to set up an all Borders clash. The Souters started brightly and opened up a 14-5 lead through tries from Jones and Harkness, converted by the ever steady, David Cassidy.

The fight back from the Jed terriers was fast and fierce and they clawed back to take a 15-14 lead with the clock running down to the final minutes. However, the never-say-die attitude of the magnificent Selkirk Seven created an opportunity when Fraser Harkness, secured a loose ball on the Jed 22 and powered his way under the posts in typical "Harky" style for the winning try.

Referee, David Changleng allowed the tie to re-start and after a frantic climax, the final whistle signalled a worthy win for the Philiphaugh heroes. Selkirk 21 Jed 15.
The disappointed Jed coaches and officials were first to offer their congratulations to their Selkirk counterparts which typifies the sporting camaraderie between the Borders towns.

Everyone in the Selkirk squad made a brave contribution to secure the Kelso trophy and the coaches are to be congratulated for improving fitness levels at this early stage of the season.

Season opens

AT THE beginning of last season Annan’s hope for the new season, after being relegated to Division 2 of the SRU National leagues was to consolidate in the Division and build on the youthful team for a return to Division 1 as soon as possible. Not even the most optimistic of home supporters thought that that the Annan side would bounce straight back up but that is exactly what they did.

Annan President Don Barty is relishing the prospect of playing again in National Division One which is where he feels the team belongs. "Being relegated the season before last was quite a blow for the Club, but last season they responded in style and bounced back with some exciting, flowing rugby - indeed some of the best rugby seen at Violetbank for many a year." Don was full of praise for the playing squad and the coaches." Last season's success was down to a fantastic effort by our coaches Kenny White and Paul Buckley allied to a style suited to a young squad  who worked fantastically well to achieve success. Next season's team could be Annan's youngest ever, but I am sure they will give a good account of themselves and our prime aim is to consolidate again in National Division One, which contains some very good teams, including Falkirk and Garnock who were promoted along with ourselves and local rivals Langholm. It is important that we get off to a good start, but at least some of our lads have been experiencing summer sunshine in training. Alex Dunbar has been at a conditioning camp with Scotland Under 17s in Spain and Ryan Gracie, Michael Scott, Euan Braid and Mark Clark have been at a training camp in the South of France with the Glasgow Thistles Under 18s." The Annan President has one other wish for the season. "Apart from our aim of giving a good account account of ourselves back in National One, we want the players to continue to play entertaining, fluid rugby and entertain the fans at Violetbank. You can rest assured we'll be giving it our best shot and continuing to nurture our clutch of exciting young players"

Annan coach Paul Buckley is also looking forward to the new challenges of the season ahead and stated that "although the senior squad started pre-season training later this year, players have been working hard in groups since the beginning of June. Weights and fitness programmes have enabled them to improve their strength and stamina through the summer months and this has allowed the coaches to focus pre-season training on skills and technique interspersed with speed endurance training.

No one is under any illusion about what lies ahead this coming season in Division 1 but it is where we want to be playing our style of rugby and we are fully committed to doing our best and working hard throughout the season to ensure we a Division 1 team next year.

The pre-season games and the Violetbank Tournament will help us to prepare for the 1^{st September. We hope our supporters will help us to have an enjoyable start to the season and look forward to an exiting return to Division 1 rugby"}

Centenary success

SELKIRK CELEBRATE DOUBLE SUCCESS

IT was a great end of the season for Premier 2 side Selkirk with a double success to mark their Centenary year.

The centenary celebrations ended in a blaze of glory on Saturday, with Selkirk Veterans winning their own international tournament in convincing style.

It says much for the Vets' standing in the world of over-35s rugby that visiting teams were prepared to travel hundreds of miles in order to support the Vets' ambitious competition - the largest club event of its kind staged north of the border.

Their success followed the winning of the Kings of the Sevens Championship by the Premier lads.

The presence of three overseas teams - Old Villa Pamphili Rugby Roma (Italy), Ixelles Kibubu Rugby Club (Belgium) and trusty friends Archiball Bordeaux (France) - added greatly to the occasion, with the French team's pre-match performance of what can loosely be termed a 'Hokey-Cokey Haka' particularly impressive.

Camaraderie and enjoyment were the main ingredients of the afternoon, with supporters and officials of English visitors Heathfield & Waldron Veterans determined to enter into the spirit of the centenary celebrations by wearing eye-catching Edwardian costumes.

Hosts Selkirk Veterans got off to a flying start against Old Villa Pamphili in the tournament's opening game on the main pitch, accounting for the Italians 50-0 (the day's highest score). Meanwhile the game across the road on the Burnmill field was an altogether tighter affair, with English side Heathfield & Waldron Vets edging past Dunbar 14-7.

Selkirk found life a lot tougher in their next Group 1 pool match against old rivals Corstorphine, eventually winning out 19-0 in a hard-fought encounter, while in their final qualifying game against Ixelles Kibubu the Souters managed to keep their 100% record with an entertaining 21-0 victory. Group 2 was won by Lothian & Borders Police, which meant an all-Scottish final on the main pitch.

Selkirk took an early lead through a try by prop Lindsay Carrick, before scrum-half Fraser Jack turned up the heat with a couple of fine individual scores, both of which he converted, giving the Selkirk Vets a 19-0 halftime lead. To their credit, the Lothian & Borders Police players refused to throw in the towel, and former Selkirk player Sky Laurie put their only points on the board with a try and conversion, Struan Jack also scored a try which was converted by Tim Cove for a final score of 27-7

At night a post-tournament banquet was held for all the players in the marquee at the east end of the ground, with Selkirk's former internationalist John Rutherford demonstrating his linguistic versatility by opening his speech with greetings to the overseas guests in both Italian and French. Organiser Rob Forrest thanked everyone who had worked so hard to make the tournament possible, and expressed his gratitude to all the teams for their tremendous support. Specially engraved trophies were presented to each club, and a hugely enjoyable day ended with dancing into the wee small hours.

Title for Hawick

GREENS CLINCH BORDER LEAGUE

Hawick clinched the Southern Reporter Border League title with a
convincing 32-7 win over Selkirk.

The Greens ended the 15's season on a high after finishing second bottom
in Premier 1 but retained their premier place.

A Mansfield spokesman said: "Selkirk put up a good fight and led us at
the interval. But we ended up too strong and everyone is delighted at
winning our local league in front of our biggest crowd of the season."

Changes at Philiphaugh

BIG changs in the coaching set up have been announced for Premier 2 side Selkirk

Two leading and experienced coaches, Rodney Pow and Kevin Barrie, will over at the Philiphaugh 1st XV next season.

The current coaching team of Brian Cassidy and Steve Scott are stepping down at the end of the season.

Scott, a Scotland internationalist and pro. player with the Border Reivers, is moving to join Glasgow Warriors, while Cassidy will take over the role of Selkirk team manager.

The Pow and Barrie partnership had a three-year spell in charge of the Border Reivers under-18 team, with the side winning the Scottish Championship title in season 2005/2006. In addition both men have captained their respective clubs, Selkirk and Jed-Forest, as well as playing together in 1993 for the South district against Ulster at Ravenhill.

Pow said: "I'm delighted to be going back to coach at SelkirkI  feel there's a good coaching and management structure in place at the club, and I'm obviously looking forward to working with Kevin again"

Barrie, whose paternal grandmother was born and bred in Selkirk, is equally enthusiastic about the move. "I'm relishing the challenge," he said. "There is a lot of potential at Selkirk, and teaming up with Rodney once more is obviously a pleasing prospect."

Pow, who made 243 senior appearances for Selkirk, coached the Philiphaugh club's 1st XV for a single season in the late 1990s, before going on to coach Selkirk Youth Club in tandem with Graham Marshall for the next five years - a successful partnership which saw the under-18 team accumulate no fewer than 36 fifteens and sevens trophies during that time.

At the end of his playing career Kevin Barrie spent two years coaching Jed Thistle, before returning to Riverside Park as 1st XV coach for three seasons. The former hooker then had a two-year spell at Currie, before returning to the Borders to take charge of Hawick, followed by another spell with Jed Thistle.

Selkirk Rugby Club president Dennis Henderson paid tribute to the hard work put in by Brian Cassidy and Steve Scott over the past two seasons.

"They have done a great job for Selkirk, and everyone at Philiphaugh appreciates their tremendous efforts. I've every confidence that Rodney and Kevin will continue to bring out the best in the club's talented players," he said.

DUMFRIES GO DOWN

FIRST DEFEAT FOR PARK FARM SIDE

Hawick YM 17 Dumfries Saints 12

DUMFRIES Saints suffered their first league reverse of the season when they travelled to the Scottish Borders and went down to Hawick YM.

Saints started well with the forwards driving into the home defence and ball being moved wide to the wing. All the early pressure was Saints and young Sam Hiddleston on the wing was unlucky to be stopped just short. It seemed like the goal line pressure must bring a score but referee Robertson disallowed a possible try and rescued the home side with the first of many unexplainable penalties against the Saints.

The pattern continued with Saints trying to play rugby and the dogged home defence and referee keeping them out. During this time the excellent Craig Neish, playing a centre for YM, struck three penalties for a 9-0 lead. By this stage the ref had the Saints back row wondering whether or not they could go near the ball! Undaunted the Saints fought back and Tom Hiddleston kicked a penalty to make it 9-3 at half time.

After the turn Dumfries started piling on the pressure and soon the points were coming. Hiddleston kicked a further two penalties and an excellent drop goal. Crucially Saints did not take their chances to score tries, the forwards took ball on that should have been run out to use the overlaps and when they did get over the line the referee gave them nothing. Despite leading 12-3 there was always a danger Hawick could break out.

That man Craig Neish showed his class making the crucial break through the centre that led to an excellent score in the corner despite Tom Hiddleston’s tackle. Neish has played over 100 games for Hawick in Premier 1 and this showed throughout. With only minutes left to rescue the game Saints tried to get back into the game. Unfortunately once again the erratic ref prevented them with a penalty for tacklers not rolling away when everyone could see they had moved away and were not interfering with the ball or players. Neish nailed it to clinch a 17-12 victory for the home side.

This was a disappointing end to Saints 100% record in the league however the performance was an improvement on recent weeks, especially in the forwards where there were signs that the fire is returning! With the multiple changes in the backs it was always going to be an experiment and it was a solid performance that with a little more poise and confidence could have delivered more. The Borders referee caused real frustration but fortunately the championship trophy is already in the cabinet at Park Farm!

Coach Tam McGaw said “while we are sorry to loose the record our real target now is getting ready for the cup. The boys dug in well today and got nothing from the ref. We have plenty of positives to take from this game”.

R Dunlop, R MacMillan, K Geddes, J Magill, D Naylor, J Little, D Crichton, S Clanachan, K Brown, E Bryden, M Richardson, R Daly, K Henderson, S Hiddleston, T Hiddleston, subs, A Sloan, M Rennie, A Walker.

STEWARTRY OUT OF SHIELD

STEWARTRY 0 CUMBERNAULD 5

STEWARTRY are out of the National Shield after a narrow defeat at Greenlaw, Castle Douglas on Saturday.

Torrential rain and a strong wind hit the area and it was only by 5-0 margin that the Blacks went out.

ANNAN TRIUMPH OVER P3 ELLON

Meanwhile Annan had a great win when they travelled to Ellon and knocked out the Premier 3 side by one point.l

Annan beat Ellon 28-27 in a thrilling 1st round Shield tie. Kevin Jones got the winning try late on. Annan now take on Langholm in the 2nd round.

	Other Shield scores
	Musselburgh 25 - 24 RHC Marr 32 - 5 St Andrews University Falkirk 33 - 7 Lenzie Greenock Wanderers - Dalziel Allan Glen's 5 - 44 Peebles Madras College FP 18 - 58 Garnock Duns 29 - 0 Newton Stewart Stewartry 0 - 5 Cumbernauld Forrester 27 - 22 Caithness Preston Lodge 40 - 12 Ross High Strathendrick 5 - 12 Langholm

stewartry beaten by hamilton

STEWARTRY RFC will take route two to Murrayfield in the shield tournament after Hamilton, from Premier League Two, ran in nine tries to no reply from the Blacks, to go through to round five of the Scottish Cup, after winning at windswept Greenlaw by 53-0.

Stewartry faced the strong wind but in sunny conditions as the Hamilton XV, at least a stone a man heavier than the Blacks pack, set out their game plan by scoring in only five minutes to lead 5-0.

Halfway through the first half, Greenlaw was to taste all the four seasons of the weather with the hail and sleet blowing into the faces of the Blacks players. Hamilton used this to their advantage to create their own four seasons with four differently worked tries to add to their first and turn round 27-0 ahead.

The weather calmed in the second half with only a light wind to help Stewartry who found Hamilton one of the best organised teams seen at Greenlaw for a number of years. Four second half tries at regular intervals gave the Hamilton supporters, who filled Stewartry’s small grandstand something to cheer in the terrible conditions which saw the Stewartry support melt into the cars or the clubhouse as Hamilton enjoyed one of the biggest victories in the fourth round.

Hamilton’s Richie Maxton who played against Stewartry on Saturday has been picked for Scotland club international squad to play Ireland on Friday, March 9 in Edinburgh