Dalkeith made the hour-long trip down the A7 for the first of two trips to Hawick this season. Hawick Linden were the opposition but due to their artificial pitch at Volunteer Park being temporarily out of action the fixture was moved to Mansfield Haugh (YM’s old pitch).

Weather conditions were much the same as the previous week with the sun shining, partly cloudy and a slight breeze in the air. The pitch looked as though it could’ve been doing with a trim but no question of it not being playable.

Due to unavailability, there were a few changes in in the Dalkeith line up from the week before, James Howden & Tadi Muzambi (league debut) found themselves out of position in the back row, whilst in the three-quarter line the Dalkeith half-backs were an all-Boarders affair with Alex Selkirk at 9 & Clark Young at 10, Jonny Stansfield was promoted from the bench to start on the wing.

Clark Young got proceedings underway, a good kick chase resulted in early Dalkeith pressure and a penalty awarded. However, Young wasted the chance of opening the scoring as he pulled his kick to the left of the posts and the opportunity was lost.

It was evident from early on that Dalkeith were facing a fired-up Linden team who were clearly looking to make amends from losing their opening match last week. The first 15 minutes were played predominantly between the 22’s with turnovers and penalties being the order of the day.

As the game progressed & with little decisive play by either team it really needed someone to take the game by the scruff of the neck and show a cutting edge. Unluckily for Dalkeith that player was the Linden 13 who made the 1st line break of the game, evading 3 tacklers to take play to the Dalkeith 5-yard line. A penalty was awarded to Linden for foul play at the ruck which Linden opted to kick to the corner. Fortunately for Dalkeith they were then awarded a penalty on their try line and Young cleared the danger for the time being.

Hawick linden were reduced to 14 men when their no.19 was yellow carded for foul play.

Dalkeith capitalised on the numerical advantage straight away after a useful kick through by Euan Lockhart left the Linden winger isolated, then pinged for holding on.

Young’s kick made it Linden 0 Dalkeith 3

Dalkeith gave up possession from the kick off and Linden were on the attack, Dalkeith’s defence was solid and held out 4 Linden charges at the line, Ryan Reid stole the ball on the Dalkeith 5 and fed to Howden, but Howden got penalised for holding on and Dalkeith were back were they started, defending their try line. The pressure had to tell and inevitably Linden got awarded a penalty in the shadow of the posts and made it 3 each with an unmissable kick.

Dalkeith had one further attack into the Linden half before the break, staring with a lineout move that saw Zak Sives hurtling towards the Linden try line, the ball was spun wide were the Linden centres done well to stop strong running from Reid & Macmillan, a few phases later it looked as though No.8 Ogweno had scored the opening try but was ruled to have stepped into touch.

HT 3-3

Linden started the second half with the bit between their teeth and it took great cover tackling by Macmillan and Stansfield to keep the opposition at bay. Dalkeith were defending desperately at this point and it felt only a matter of time before Linden breached the Dalkeith line. This was to be the case as in the next attack Hawick’s 13 cut back off his left foot 2 or 3 times to skip in between the posts and dot down, the conversion was good. 10-3

At this point Dalkeith just couldn’t get any type of field position, another penalty to Linden made it 13 -3.

Dalkeith desperately needed some front foot possession; this came when Euan Lockhart collected a high ball and took off beating 6 defenders and taking play into the Linden 22. Recycled ball presented Selkirk with the opportunity to plunge over, the conversion from Young made it 13 – 10.

Was this the start of a momentum swing?

Moments later, Reid shrugged off the Linden defence to gain ground then feed Macmillan. This got Dalkeith to within touching distance of scoring. Quick ball from the ruck saw Young dive over and Dalkeith had regained the lead. Conversion missed 13 – 15 with minutes to go.

Again, Dalkeith attacked from the kick off looking to close the show. Disaster struck when the greens are penalised for sealing off, inviting Linden to kick deep into the Dalkeith 22.
Linden with the attacking platform but their no.8 knocked on & a scrum is awarded to Dalkeith. Dalkeith win the scrum and spin the ball to the backs, but Dalkeith knock on & possession is handed back to Linden.

This leads to a very kickable penalty to Linden; but their kicker somehow manages to hit the post and the ball stays live. Dalkeith look to have won the ball back but the referee makes the (wrong) decision that Reid was on his knees in the ruck. This presents an even easier kick to Linden and this time there’s no mistake. 16 – 15 into injury time.

Last play & Dalkeith regain possession from the kick off, however ill-discipline gives Linden the penalty that they gleefully kick to touch amid jubilant scenes from the home supporters.

Full time Hawick Linden 16 – Dalkeith 15

A hugely disappointing result and a very under par performance from the greens.

Congratulations to Linden on their deserved victory. We look forward to the return game later in the year.

This Saturday we’re back on the road, this time to Dunbar who’ve had a red-hot start to the season with successive bonus point wins.

3.00pm Kick off at Hallhill, we hope to see you there.