Biggar blow their chance at Melrose
Biggar Rugby Club fell to a disappointing 31-13 defeat at Melrose after they failed to take several of their chances.
The result has the Hartree Mill club sixth in National League 1, 13 points off the relegation places with a game in hand over three of the six teams below them.
But the South Lanarkshire side will be left wondering what might have been, with forward plays not paying off.
Melrose got off to a bad start, with prop Callum Crookshanks sin-binned in the opening few minutes, and a couple of scrum penalties led to Biggar’s first try through Craig Borthwick.
Melrose redressed the balance with a David Colvine penalty and took the lead when a series of missed tackles allowed
Cameron Spence to nip over for the try.
Andrew Orr scored a second try for Biggar, but the Border side replied with another Colvine penalty, edging them ahead 11-10.
Biggar scrum half Davy Reive was denied a try in the closing stages of the first half, and this was the turning point as the hosts had been in control and enjoying pressure, but without reward.
Neither side were able to control the match in wet conditions at the start of the second half, as play ebbed and flowed.
A lineout drive took Melrose close, and an opportunist pick and go from David Colvine saw him go over, pushing them into a 16-10 lead.
In this fixture last season Melrose lost a player to a late and dangerous tackle, and history repeated itself as Spence was red carded for a‘high and dangerous’tackle on Fergus Watson.
With Melrose down to 14 men Biggar might have expected to put their hosts under real pressure, but they could only add a penalty to their tally.
With 10 minutes left, and the game in the balance at 16-13, Melrose finished the stronger of the two sides, with a Colvine penalty and a two-try burst from Donald Crawford taking them to 30-13, with one of them converted.
Biggar on Saturday host a Watsonians side that sit two places and eight points below them in the league table, having played a game more.