Berwick 5 Haddington 10

It was a gloomy day at Scremerston as Berwick welcomed Haddington. The pitch was heavy and with both teams evenly matched it turned into a war of attrition. Haddington earned the win with Berwick having to console themselves with a losing bonus point. Before the match a minutes “applause” was held as a show of respect to Hon Scottish President Sandy Reavley who sadly passed away in the days running up to the match. Sandy, a well-known local farmer, was a long term supporter to the Club and attended most matches and the minutes applause was fully merited.

The game kicked off and play quickly established itself into a forward battle with the back line seeing little of the ball. With the overcast and wet conditions it was one of those days where you didn’t want to be on the wing! Berwick took the ball into the Haddington half and camped there with plenty of forward drives. Tom Jackson, Gareth Black and Graham Skeen were prominent in the early exchanges with the Berwick pack going through the phases. However the possession couldn’t be turned into points with Haddington’s defence holding strong preventing Berwick to break the gain line. Good discipline from the visitors also kept penalty chances to a minimum and from distance. Eventually Haddington broke free from their shackles and it was Berwick’s turn to show their defensive qualities. The match continued in a similar vein with much of the play in the middle of the park.

Eventually it was Haddington who were able to break the deadlock. They made a dangerous break down the stand side touchline which was eventually stopped by the Berwick defence. The forwards came off their feet at a resulting ruck and gave away the penalty. The Haddington scrum half Jack Hamilton showed good awareness to take a quick tap penalty which allowed the ball to move across the back line. Berwick’s defence was quick to react and they looked as if they had smothered the problem but Haddington’s outside centre Kyle Hamilton gathered the ball from his feet and barged his way over the try line despite the best attempts of the Berwick defence to stop him. Given the poor conditions it was no surprise that the conversion attempt was missed but Haddington had a valuable lead 0-5.

Berwick tried to fight back into the game but Haddington’s defence again restricted the home side’s chances. Lee Douglas nearly made the break through when he was able to get his boot to the ball but with no support the move broke down. Haddington continued to make chances of their own and at least one went a begging as they knocked on in the act of scoring. The first half drew to a close with a Jack Webster penalty chance falling short from long distance.

The second half got underway and Berwick posed the first real attacking threat of the half. The chance was created by Jack Webster who ran from inside his own half evading a couple of tackles. When the space was closed down he chipped ahead. With the bounce of the ball going Berwick’s way for a change Webster was able to gather the ball and continue forward. Eventually Webster had to pass out wide where Adam Hardie was on hand to take the ball and continued up the wing. Hardie’s legs started to give out about 10 metres from the try line which allowed the Haddington defence to clear the danger. Haddington moved play back up field and put together their best spell of the game. Berwick’s defence eventually shipped a score after a period of rucks and forward incursions created space out wide for winger Kyle Adams to score. The conversion was missed again but in a low scoring game Haddington had a valuable 0-10 lead.

Berwick fought back and put together their own spell of attacking play. First a catch and drive was held up over the line. Then an attacking scrum failed as clumsy feet got in the way. Jamie Pick warmed himself up by squeezing through a narrow gap only to be brought down after a determined run. Eventually it was Captain Gareth Black who gave the home side hope. Haddington scrum half Hamilton gave away a stupid free kick at a scrum which Berwick quickly took. The forwards mauled their way to the line and Black was able to ground the ball after spinning out of the maul. The conversion was missed but Berwick were only five points behind with as many minutes left to play.

Both sides were showing the effects of the heavy pitch and Berwick just couldn’t lift themselves to produce the grandstand effort they so wished for. The game ended with Haddington taking away a deserved victory in a close fought encounter.

Berwick Team
1) D Eagleton 2) G Black - Captain 3) T Jackson 4) S Owens 5) G Flint 6) G Skeen
7) A Pearson 8) D Gilchrist 9) A Hardie 10) J Webster 11) M Brennan 12) T Riddell
13) L Douglas 14) J Pick 15) G Hill

Replacements
E Landels, S Gilchrist, & D Blackburn