HAWICK Weather 12 SELKIRK 12

A draw was almost the inevitable result of a bruising Borders derby that could have swung either way.

Hawick controlled the early stages following a penalty try, but Selkirk always kept in close contact and a late try by replacement Callum Anderson, converted by Aaron Mccolm, who also missed a penalty, secured a share of the points.

The Hawick pack’s driving was key to the home side’s spells of dominance, but they failed to take their chances and Selkirk dug deep and had their own opportunities to clinch all the points.

Hawick assistant coach Dean Mccracken said that the players were very disappointed and saw the match as points lost. “It was a game we were looking to win after our defeat at Currie. In the second half, we never stuck to our structure and at times it was pretty embarrassing,” he said. “We were in control around the 65th-minute mark, but we missed touch with a penalty and Selkirk went up the park and scored.

Neil Darling, who has returned to Selkirk as forwards’ coach, added: “We were disappointed with the draw and felt we had chances to win the game. Hawick is a hard place to come and win, and they have a good, dominant scrum. We had chances, but at the end of the day, we are happy with the two points.”

Hawick threatened to overwhelm the visitors in the early stages, and a succession of penalties led to the penalty try in nine minutes and a 7-0 lead. Selkirk regained their composure and Mccolm was unsuccessful with a penalty before Henry Bithray squeezed over in the left-hand corner after the ball was sent through several pairs of hands.

The visitors created two scoring opportunities after the break before Bruce Mcneil was at the end of a forwards’ drive to give Hawick a 12-5 lead. However, Anderson, who had replaced the injured Ross Nixon in the first half, scored with four minutes to play, and Mccolm kicked a difficult conversion from close to the byline to square the contest.