Stewart’s Melville 0
Galashiels Academy 29
SCHOOLS RUGBY
IN THEIR first outing this season, Galashiels Academy’s first XV travelled to Edinburgh and came away with a victory based on an excellent defensive performance.
Straight from the kick-off, Academy went on the attack. Good ball retention and strong running eventually led to a scrum inside the city side’s 22. Academy No8 Euan Pflug picked and went blind, and good handling from Gavin Hamilton sent winger Jamie Brown crashing over in the corner.
Gala kept this early pressure on and their second try came after just 13 minutes. Good interplay between backs and forwards was finished off by a trademark Gary Robertson charge, bursting over the line through several would-be tacklers. Keith Young was on target with the conversion.
Stewart’s came back into the game and were only kept out by some strong Academy defending. Excellent workrate by Harry Brown saw him steal the ball from the opposition on several occasions, which allowed his team to keep the homesters on the back foot.
Just before the half-time whistle, Gala extended their lead after some impressive handling in the backs. A fine move was finished off by Callum Hunter, who broke through the opposition rearguard to score a third touchdown.
The second period started positively for the Borderers, with the forwards once again stealing ball and setting up a Gala counter-attack.
After multiple phases, Ruari Howarth picked out captain Liam Scott who crashed over, giving Keith Young a simple conversion.
Gala finished off the scoring on 67 minutes, Hunter collecting a well-judged chip over the defence from Howarth to bag his second try.