Broughton Ladies 5
Melrose Ladies 83
FRIENDLY
TWELVE Melrose players exchanged the Borders ice for the Edinburgh mud in search of some much-needed match practice against lower league Broughton last weekend.
Despite the numeric disadvantage, the gulf in leagues showed as Melrose took only an hour to run in 13 tries before the referee’s whistle spared the hosts the last 20 minutes.
Broughton never came to terms with the Melrose pace out wide, but they deserve full marks for their persistent efforts in the tight, constantly putting the Melrose six under pressure.
Working hard to gain possession on a heavy pitch, Melrose spun the ball at every opportunity and the pace of Gillian Inglis and Lauren Harris, just back from injury, proved to be Broughton’s undoing.
With a number of players playing out of their normal position and the new halfback combination Emma Pate (9) and Lana Skeldon (10) settling well, it proved a successful workout.
Melrose scorers were Lauren Harris (5), Gillian Inglis (4), Steff McKenna (2), Nicola Halfpenny. Lana Skeldon converted eight and Halfpenny one.
Melrose: L. Harris, G. Inglis, S. McKenna, N. Halfpenny, L. Skeldon, E. Pate, L. Purves, A. Other, L. Gilchrist, E. Hackney. T. Elms, H. Rorrison.