DUNBAR DEMOLISH EARLSTON TO BECOME LEAGUE CHAMPIONS.

After losing their 100% record to Earlston last week many a harsh word was spoken by captain jamie peters throughout the last weeks training sessions. Having witnessed the training session on Thursday it was quite clear that revenge was on the Dunbar players’ minds. It was not taken too lightly the reactions of the Earlston players and officials in how they reacted to their well-deserved victory. Dunbar in the warm up were as eager as never before to wipe the memory clean from their minds.
Dunbar started well and after just 7 minutes a great move saw gary peters run in a well taken try to eliminate any nerves the home team had prior to the match. Dunbar continued to play a very expansive and fast game which Earlston were having difficulty defending against.
With 18 minutes on the clock young second row stuart crichton, who had been driving well broke through a couple of tackles to secure the touch down. Captain jamie peters added the extra points to secure a 12-0 lead.
Dunbar settled into one of their normal quiet sections with a professional performance which lacked any clear break through. This was to change on 22 minutes when captain Peters finished off a nice move to extend the lead and up he strolled to convert his own try. This was followed soon after by a great catch and drive by the forwards that resulted in Calum Champion finishing off a nice drive.
Dunbar came straight back from the kick off and forced a penalty which was neatly slotted into the corner. Again the ball was collected and driven forward for Greco to secure the try on 28 minutes.
Dunbar would not let things rest and with 37 minutes played winger John Peebles burst through to score a fine try. This was followed up within a couple of minutes by the winger’s brother gary peebles who finished off a great move to extend the Dunbar lead to 43 points to nil.
With half time approaching Dunbar hit the Borders outfit with another blow when Champion scored his hat trick of tries to finish off the scoring.
HALF TIME
DUNBAR 50 EARLSTON 0
Dunbar started the second half as they finished the first by scoring through centre robert courtney who drove through several weak attempts to stop him. Peters added the extra points as Dunbar continued to totally dominate play. This was followed up by skipper Peters finishing off a well worked training ground move.
Dunbar made several changes as Thomson, Donnellan, Bryce, Wightman and Bisset replaced Crichton, Smith, Lunam, Peters and John Peebles.
With 62 minutes played scrum half Clutton was yellow carded for something wing forward Champion had committed. The referee even after Champion admitted it was he who committed the crime still insisted Clutton was removed from the pitch. The 14 man Dunbar team immediately showed they were a match for anybody as winger Peebles finished off a fine move.
Earlston now had a good period of pressure which was soaked up by the home defence before Dunbar broke away to score again on 72 minutes. Substitute Ian Wightman running in from the 22 metre line with Bryce in support. Peters converted the try to extend the home teams lead to 74-0. Dunbar finished the scoring on 75 minutes when Steve Bisset finished a fast flowing move to score with Peters adding the extra points to finalise the scoring at 81-0.
What a transformation from the previous weeks result. This was without doubt the best performance of the season. It took an hour or so for word to come through that Hawick Quins had not secured the bonus point so Dunbar were league champions. This on top of the Edinburgh Bowl win sets the club up nicely for the National Bowl semi-final against Hawick Harlequins on 31st of March. Dunbar meantime have a trip to Ireland to play Skerries RFC in what is their 60th anniversary match which is the longest lasting fixture between an Irish and Scottish club.
Dunbar will then travel to meet Hawick Quins in the league before contesting the Bowl semi-final at Hallhill the week after.
This was a much improved performance played at a high tempo which Earlston could not cope with. Best for Dunbar were Captain jamie peters his brother Gary and Calum Champion.
UNFORTUNATELY NO TROPHY WAS PRESENT FOR THE EAST LOTHIAN OUTFIT WHICH PUT A LITTLE DAMPENER ON THE CELEBRATIONS.