East 2: Champions: Broughton finish off in style with six try win

An ebullient Head Coach Stuart Thomson was full of praise for his side who recorded their 17th four-try bonus point of the championship winning season however they were forced to fight all the way for it from a dogged Dalkeith in the North Edinburgh fog.

Thomson said, "I'm very proud to have worked with this fantastic bunch of guys this season and bring success to this very special club.

"Craig (Wishart, the club captain) has led the team from the front both on and off the pitch and Alison (MacDonald, former Scotland cap and forwards coach) have been a tremendous support from a coaching point of view. To win any league is not easy but to not lose a game in the process is tremendously difficult and this says a lot for the character of these players."

It was the visitors who had the best of the opening exchanges, even whilst playing up the infamous slope, however they were met by a resilient home defence who held firm whilst under persistent pressure from the heavy away pack.

The resilience was to be rewarded at the other end with two quick fire tries to set Broughton on their way. Ulsterman Neil Armstrong pinned back the ears from inside his own 22 to race down the slope in an almost carbon copy score witnessed at Portobello two week's previously.

Five minutes later, the lead was doubled. A spectacular run down the hill by Andrew Tainsh allowed him the chance to tease the last line of Dalkeith defence and his timely 'draw and pass' saw the en-rushing Stuart Hagen take the ball in the bread basket and gallop home.

Shortly after the half hour mark, Casper Jones found himself in space and as he was tackled to the ground, he managed to offload into the hands of Dan Smith who glided in unopposed under the uprights.

Then, with the final play of the half, a lung-bursting run by Ryan McKnight saw him skip away from the despairing clutches of the diving Dalkeith full-back to record the bonus point. The quartet of first half tries were complimented by the trusty boot of Gavin Tainsh who recorded a 100% success rate ahead of the metaphorical oranges.

HT: Broughton 28-0 Dalkeith

Heading up the quagmire in the second half, Broughton took just four minutes to further extend their lead.

An deft kick from the instep of Ryan McKnight saw a hovering Stuart Hagen hugging the touchline and the twinkle toes of the seasoned campaigner saw him just about stay in the field of play enough to regain his balance and slide over the line.

McKnight went from provider to try scorer of his own in the 51st minute. With footwork that wouldn't have looked out of place in Barcelona's Camp Nou, the centre dribbled past the last line of Dalkeith defence to pop the ball down across the whitewash.

The home support on the sidelines were enjoying the feast of scores from their favourites and news even reached those in swanky up-town bars of what they were missing.

With the game entering its latter stages and the smell of cheap champagne to accompany the trophy presentation, the home side could be excused for being distracted. That's not to take anything away from the hosts who used their bulk to bulldoze over for two tries of their own.

Lockhart was to find himself doing enough to get in for five points in the corner before Young found himself coming up with the ball from a plethora of bodies over the Broughton line.

FT: Broughton 38-12 Dalkeith

The presentation was made after the match by Jim Littlefair, the SRU's Edinburgh Regional representative.

Following the sea of photographs and post-match food, more than £1,000 was raised in the raffle. All proceeds will go to Rennie Grove Hospice Care who supported Former Club Captain Nick Keenan's father Stephen Rhodes during his battle against MND.

If you were unable to buy tickets and would still like to donate, the family has set up a JustGiving page in Stephen’s memory or you can text 70070 with TOMK48 and the amount to be donated eg TOMK48 £10.

Updated 23:30 - 2 Sep 2019 by Mark Brown