DUNS 32 points, BROUGHTON F.P. 13 points.   Duns entertained Broughton at the Hardens last saturday in the latest round of matches in Scottish Hydro East League Division 1.   The Duns coaches had selection problems of nightmarish proportions, and the side once again had a makeshift look about it. Whereas the previous saturday there were 10 forwards unavailable for the match at Lismore, it was a lack of fit backs which hampered preparations for the Broughton game. Duns were without the sevices of Ged Lamb, Kevin Aitchison, Scott Lindsay, Dale Robertson, Max Nimmo and Kieran Renton behind the scrum, and so 'auld heid' James Royan answered an SOS to play at stand off, whilst Keith Davidson played his first match of the season, and Niko Pelasio and Richard Burns dropped out of the back row to play centre and full back respectively.   Danny Lamb kicked a penalty for Duns after only three minutes on another perfect day for playing rugby, and although the home side had territorial advantage, they could not add to their score for the next half hour playing down the Hardens slope.   Midway through the half Broughton scored a worryingly simple try when their stand off jinked inside his opposite number to score under the bar, and the straightforward conversion gave the visitors the lead by 7 - 3.   Duns scored their first try after half an hour. David Hutchison took a quick throw to Richard Burns who made good progress into the Broughton 22. Duns were awarded a penalty for hands in the ruck, and a quick tap resulted in big number 8 Stuart Blyth barging over.   Five minutes later Duns scored try number two. From a ruck on the Broughton 22, with the Duns backs lined up to the right, scrum half Danny Lamb broke on the blind side and his darting run took him all the way to the line.   On the stroke of half time Keith Davidson, who had come on as a replacement, thumped his way over for the third try. Niko Pelasio stole Broughton lineout ball, popped a pass to Stuart Blyth who made progress into the heart of the Broughton 22, and from the ruck Davidson had the strength to force his way over. Danny Lamb missed all three conversion attempts, but Duns held sway by 18 points to 7 at half time.   Broughton reduced the leeway with a penalty after only three minutes of the second half, and five minutes later Duns scored their fourth try from David Hutchison. The speedy winger outpaced the cover to touch down behind the posts, and Danny Lamb's conversion attempt went over. The try secured Duns their seventh bonus point in 7 league games this season, something no other club in either the Premier or National leagues has been able to achieve.   Midway through the half Broughton kicked a second penaly, and the gap was cut to less than two scores at 25 - 13. At this stage Broughton were on top of Duns, with their big number 8 causing all sorts of problems in the home midfied, and a try for the visitors at that stage would have made things very interesting indeed. However, the Duns defensive line held firm.   With time running out, Duns put some gloss on their victory with a second try by David Hutchison. The winger received the ball on the half way line, made 20 metres or so upfield, and then kicked ahead. The ball was being ushered towards the dead ball line by the Broughton full back, but Hutchison followed up his own kick and dived on the ball only inches before it went out of play. This was the 1000th league try scored by Duns in what is their 24th season of National League rugby. Danny Lamb's fine conversion took Duns to 32 points.   This was an excellent victory by Duns, particularly in light of the unfamiliar look to the back line, and the 5 points gained from the match keeps the team only 4 points off the top of the table. There are new league leaders in the shape of Dunbar, whom Duns play this saturday at the Hallhill Sports Centre. Please try to make the short trip to Dunbar to support the team.   The Duns team against Broughton was :- Richard Burns; Andrew Anderson, Jamie Renton ( captain ), Niko Pelasio and David Hutchison; James Royan and Danny Lamb; Allen Whellans, Cammy Hill, Chris Archer, James Thorburn, Jacobus van Wyk, Craig Walker, Stuart Blyth and James Weir. The replacements were Barry Hamilton, Jamie Gillie, Steven Clarke, Keith Davidson and Richard Darling. DUNS 21 points, PORTOBELLO FP 25 points.   Duns entertained undefeated league leaders Portobello FP at the Hardens last saturday, and were defeated by 25 points to 21 after an entertaining match which could have gone either way until the very end.   Duns elected to play up the slope on another dry, windless, sunny day ideally suited to the home style of play. Portobello, too, like to throw the ball around, and so an exciting afternoon's rugby was in prospect.   Duns were in trouble straight from the kick-off. The ball was allowed to bounce, and although it was eventually gathered the clearance kick to touch was charged down. Portobello picked up the loose ball, and crossed for a simple try in the corner which was not converted.   Dale Robertson got Duns on the board with a penalty after 10 minutes, but his opposite number replied twice for Portobello to stretch the visitors' advantage to 11 - 3 after 25 minutes.   Duns then scored an excellent individual try from Ged Lamb. From a Duns scrum on half way Lamb received the ball from brother Danny, and dodged past his opposite number. He then sprinted 40 metres, leaving the cover trailing in his wake, before beating the full back on the outside to score his fifth try in three matches. Robertson converted and it was 11 - 10.   Portobello then came straight back at Duns and scored by the posts after a huge knock-on was missed by the referee, one of a sad litany of errors made by the match official over the course of the afternoon. The easy conversion went over, and the visitors' 8 point advantage was restored.   On the stroke of half time Duns reduced the leeway after good work by the forwards. They rampaged up the pitch, and as the cover was gradually sucked in there was a three-on-one overlap on the left which was exploited by captain Jamie Renton who went over in the corner for his 49th First XV try. Co-incidentally, his first try was also scored against Portobello, in a friendly match more than 11 years ago.   Although there was much less scoring after the interval, the match was no less frenetic. Duns had the advantage of the Hardens slope, and used it to peg Portobello back with long, raking kicks downfield. The visitors' back three began to feel the pressure, and knocked on and conceded penalties as the barrage continued. Dale Robertson took advantage of two penalties to kick Duns into a 3 point lead at 21 - 18 with 15 minutes left.   Portobello were not done, however, and they replied with only minutes remaining with the match-winning score. Their captain Thomas broke through the Duns defensive line and crossed between the posts, with the conversion extending the lead to 25 - 21.   In the closing moments Scott Lindsay was sent off for Duns for senselessly kneeing an opponent in the tackle. The referee was about to brandish only a yellow card for the offence, but backchat compounded that to two yellows and the Duns player was rightly dismissed.   Duns now have to pick themselves up for another home league match this saturday against local rivals Earlston. Earlston beat Edinburgh Northern last saturday and now sit only one point behind Duns in the league. Kick off is at 3 pm - please come along to support the team.   The Duns team was :- Dale Robertson; Kevin Aitchison, Jamie Renton ( captain ), Scott Lindsay and David Hutchison; Ged Lamb and Danny Lamb; Barry Hamilton, Cammy Hill, Allen Whellans, James Thorburn, James Weir, Richard Burns, Stuart Blyth and Chris Blaikie. The replacements were Chris Archer, Kieran Renton, James Murphy, Jamie Gillie and Darren Renton. EDINBURGH NORTHERN 15 points, DUNS 42 points.   Duns travelled to the capital last saturday to face Edinburgh Northern in the league, and returned with a thoroughly merited bonus point win despite an edgy opening half hour or so.   This was the first time that Duns had played Northern at Inverleith Park for more than 45 years, with club President Walter Stobie playing for Duns in that match.   There were five changes to the side which had demolished Penicuik the previous week, all of them in the pack, and it took a little while for the team to settle into its task. The news that Duns had a speedy young back line had obviously filtered it's way through to Edinburgh, as the match was played on the Second XV pitch, 10 metres narrower and 10 metres shorter than a full-sized park. Finally, there was only one match ball, and this slowed the game down whenever it was hoofed into touch and had to be retrieved by various volunteers out walking their dogs.   Duns enjoyed the lions share of territory and possession, but for 20 minutes the match was scoreless. Dale Robertson missed with a penalty attempt midway through the half, but his next three, all from distance over the following 10 minutes, found their mark, and Duns lead by 9 - 0.   Northern then enjoyed their best period of the game. Their first try came from a lineout, and then a series of rolling mauls, with one of their big props going over in the corner, and a penalty shortly afterwards reduced the deficit to 9 - 8.   Northern were awarded a free kick 10 metres from their own line on the stroke of half time, but indecision as to what to do with the ball caused the referee to lose patience and award a scrum to Duns instead. Ged Lamb at stand off ghosted past his opposite number and sprinted over for Duns' first try - taking him past 100 First XV points - and Dale Robertson added the conversion to the sound of the half time whistle.   Minutes into the second period, Duns were awarded a free kick, which was taken quickly by Russell Nimmo. He was halted just short of the line, but offloaded to Richard Burns who scored under the bar. Robertson converted, and five minutes later converted Duns' third try which he had scored himself.   Duns were now 30 - 8 up, and were in all-out attack mode, looking for the fourth try which would secure a bonus point. Unfortunately, an interception in the centre allowed Northern a glimmer of opportunity with a converted try.   That glimmer was extinguished by a fine solo try from David Hutchison. The Duns winger had very few opportunities to show his pace because of the narrowness of the park, but given half a chance he made 20 metres up the left wing. He then chipped ahead, and the Northern full back obligingly made a complete horlicks of gathering the ball, and Hutchison picked up and dived over in the corner, keeping up his record of a try in every league game this season.   Dale Robertson kicked an excellent conversion from the touchline for a personal tally of 22 points for the day, which takes him past Colin Anderson into third place on the all-time list on 562 points. Only 593 more until you catch Jock White in second, Dale !   To round off the scoring, Alexander Auld crossed for try number five after a good old-fashioned breenge by the big prop.   This was a fine performance by Duns, who leap-frog Dunbar and North Berwick into third place in the table -  bonus point wins away from home don't come along all that often. A stiffer test lies in wait this weekend when undefeated league leaders Portobello visit the Hardens. Please come along to support the team - kick off is at 3 pm.   The Duns team was :- Dale Robertson ( captain ); Kieran Renton, Kevin Aitchison, Scott Lindsay and David Hutchison; Ged Lamb and Danny Lamb; Barry Hamilton, Cammy Hill, Alexander Auld, Gavin Tait, Jacobus van Wyk, Russell Nimmo, James Weir and Richard Burns. The replacements were Chris Blaikie, Darren Renton and Craig Walker. DUNS 104 points, PENICUIK 3 points.   Duns entertained old friends Penicuik at the Hardens last saturday in their first home league fixture of the season.   After the disappointment of a single-point opening day defeat at North Berwick, Duns were keen to get back to winning ways. The weather conditions suited Duns' speedy back division perfectly, with a dry ground and hardly a breath of wind.   It was obvious as early as the third minute, when Kevin Aitchison crossed for the first of his four tries, that the Penicuik backs would have no answer to the speed of the Duns back division, both in thought and in deed. By the end of the match the visitors' threequarter line had been run ragged, although the Penicuik pack never gave up and were unlucky not to score a try in a 10 minute period of domination in the second half, which would have been no less than their efforts merited.   Duns scored 16 tries in total, and their final tally of 104 points was the highest registered by the home team in a competitive match. Previously the record in a league match was 70 points, scored against both Stirling University in February 1992 and Drumpellier twelve months later, and in a Cup match the record was the 96 points scored against Dalkeith four seasons ago. The 109 points scored in a friendly against Walkerburn in September 1994 remains the overall record.   By half time, playing down the Hardens slope, Duns had racked up 57 unanswered points from 9 tries and 6 conversions in a blitz of attacking rugby which left Penicuik chasing shadows. There were hat-tricks from Kevin Aitchison and Ged Lamb, two from David Hutchison and one from captain Jamie Renton, while Dale Robertson chipped in with 6 conversions. From as early as the third try, the visitors chose not to retreat behind the goal-line when conversions were being taken but instead remained at the half way line to conserve energy. That priviledge was not afforded to the Duns touch-judge, who was very red about the gills long before the end of the match !   After the break the tries came less rapidly, but Duns still managed to cross for seven more scores. The referee - David Douglas from Hawick - adopted a sympathetic approach after half time, and was perhaps rather harsher on Duns than he otherwise would have been, and he also cut proceedings short by a full five minutes.   The first try-scorer in the second half was David Hutchison, who completed his hat-trick. Dale Robertson ran more than half the length of the park after a sublime one-handed pick-up to score number two of the half, then big number 8 Stuart Blyth romped 25 metres up the left touch line for try number 3. Kieran Renton, on his debut, took a scoring pass from Kevin Aitchison to score his maiden try. Dale Robertson converted all four, before Scott Lindsay scored an unconverted try to stretch the lead to 90 points with 20 minutes remaining.   At this point the Penicuik team could have been excused for throwing in the towel, but to their credit they rallied and had Duns under pressure for a spell of 10 minutes or so when they were unlucky to be rewarded with only a speculative dropped goal.   Man of the match Kevin Aitchison scored his fourth try, and on the stroke of full time Richard Darling crossed for his first try for the firsts. Both were converted by Dale Robertson, taking his personal tally to 29 points, and the second conversion heralded the referees final whistle.   This was an excellent performance by Duns, but everyone knows that stiffer tests lie ahead. The first of these is this saturday when Duns travel to the capital to face Edinburgh Northern, the first time the sides have met at Inverleith Park since 1964.   The Duns team was :- Dale Robertson; Kieran Renton, Scott Lindsay, Kevin Aitchison and David Hutchison; Ged Lamb and Danny Lamb; Allen Whellans, Cammy Hill, Chris Archer, James Thorburn, Jacobus van Wyk, Richard Burns, Stuart Blyth and Jamie Renton ( captain ). The replacements were James Murphy, Darren Renton, Jamie Gillie and Richard Darling.   On sunday, a fundraising Duck Race was held at Langton ford, and a very substantial sum was raised which will provide a welcome and much-needed boost to club funds. The club would like to thank everyone who contributed in any way to make the event as successful as it was, in particular Dave Foreman who organised the whole event. Sponsors were obtained to cover the costs of the prizes, and the winners were :-   First prize - James Thomson, Greenlaw, sponsored by Paul Lyons. Second prize - Walter Stobie, Chirnside, sponsored by Eric Robertson. Third prize - Norman Wilson, Peebles, sponsored by Brian Bolton.   A booby prize for last duck in the race was won, appropriately, some might say, by Kobus van Wyk.   Once again, many thanks to all organisers, sponsors and those who bought ducks. NORTH BERWICK 14 points, DUNS 13 points.   Duns began this season's campaign in Scottish Hydro East Regional League Division 1 with a trip up the coast to North Berwick last saturday, and were defeated by the odd point in 27 after a highly entertaining game.   After torrential rain in the previous 48 hours, the match was in doubt until mid-morning, but the skies cleared and the pitch was in excellent condition given the quantity of water it had absorbed.   Duns kicked off down the slope, towards the clubrooms, and in the early minutes of the match enjoyed almost complete control. North Berwick gradually came into the match, and took the lead with a penalty by their young stand off Hegarty.   Once again the visitors camped themselves inside the North Berwick half, and this time their pressure was rewarded with points. A clearance kick from a home scrum was charged down by debutant James Weir, and he reacted first to gather the loose ball and cross for the first try.   Almost immediately North Berwick replied with their only try of the match. A penalty was kicked to touch, and from the 5-metre lineout they caught and drove over with worrying ease, although there was more than a hint of a knock-on as their big prop Hughes scored. The conversion was missed.   Ten minutes later Duns regained the lead. After a break by Max Nimmo, the Duns centre had David Hutchison on his outside and a pinpoint pass released the young speed-merchant up the left touchline to score his first of the season.   There was still time for North Berwick to take the lead back before the interval. A second penalty from Hegarty gave his side a slender 11 - 10 advantage at the break.   The second half was just as incident-filled as the first, but all the teams could manage for their efforts was a penalty apiece - Hegarty for North Berwick and Max Nimmo for Duns. North Berwick had a player sin-binned for a dangerous 'spear' tackle on Stuart Blyth, but a couple of minutes later Duns had Scott Lindsay yellow-carded for a silly kick at an opponent.   In the closing minutes Ged Lamb made a break from just inside his own half, but unluckily for Duns his pass to David Hutchison which would have given the visitors the lead failed to find its target. Then in injury time Kevin Aitchison broke up the right wing, and only a last ditch tackle by the North Berwick full back saved the day.   The final whistle consigned Duns to an opening-day defeat, the seventh successive season in which Duns have lost their first league match.   The Duns team was :- Scott Lindsay; Kevin Aitchison, Jamie Renton ( captain ), Max Nimmo and David Hutchison; Ged Lamb and Danny Lamb; James Thorburn, Cammy Hill, Barry Hamilton, Jacobus van Wyk, Stuart Blyth, Richard Burns, James Weir and Chris Blaikie. The replacements were Chris Archer, Russell Nimmo, Jamie Gillie and Keiran Renton.   This weekend Duns entertain old friends Penicuik at the Hardens. Kick off is at 3 pm - please come along to support the team.

Duns 10 a side Tournament 15th August 2009

Last Saturday saw the inaugural Duns Rugby 10s Tournament with eight teams competing for the Bank of Scotland Trophy. With the final preparations being made late on the morning the Heavens opened with some Monsoon like down pours. Fortunately the weather gods had a change of tack with the afternoon turning out a great success. Many people turned out in force and one thing is certain the Tournament will grow from strength to strength.

The Tournament was split into two section with each team playing each other until we had a winner and a runner up. The first tie of the day saw the home team up against Earlston. Duns went through with five tries plus two conversion with a final score of 29 to Nil. Next up for Duns was Hawick Quins and as expected this proved to be a real tough tie with Duns loosing out 14 12 but with two minutes to go the home team had all the pressure but failed to convert the pressure into points. In the last game in the section Duns played Walkerburn and comfortably dispatched them 64 0 playing some wonderful fluent and composed rugby. To decide on the winners and runners up of the section Duns had to await the result of Earlston against Hawick Quins. If the Quins won then they would go through but if Earlston won then we had a three way tie. Earlston game through 26 14 causing a three way tie in the section. Duns went through as section winners having scored the most tries but the runners up went down to the wire. Both Earlston and the Quins had scored the exact amount of tries and also conceded the same. Earlston went through on the basis of there win over the Quins

In the other section RHC Cougars emerged winners with St. Boswells runners up with Berwick finishing a disappointing third.

The Semi Finals were therefore Duns v St.Boswells and RHC Cougars V Earlston.In the first semi final Duns quickly were on top again playing with composure and flair. Running in five tries plus three conversion with out reply for a 31 0 win. Next up were the Cougars and Earlston. This went to form with the Cougars recording a 38 5 win. RHC Cougars throughout the tournament looked a very good outfit so Duns were going to have to be at the top of there game to get past the visitors from Edinburgh.

After a short break the final kicked off with the large crowd willing on the home side. They were not to be disappointed as Duns proved that they were more than capable of matching the more senior opponents.Duns at the breakout cleared out the ruck area well and provided quick ball for the backs. Defensively very little got past and overall the Duns fitness was key as they just never stopped running all day. Duns beat the Cougars three tries to nil to win the Bank of Scotland Trophy.

During the Tournament Duns scored a total of 25 tries and conceded only two both of them against Hawick Quins. Duns would like to thanks all of the Match Sponsors plus the support given by Redpath Tyres and Cheviot Rentals Marquee Hire.

The results of each tie was as follows

Section A

Duns 29 Earlston 0

Hawick Quins 27 Walkerburn 7

Duns 12 Hawick Quins 14

Earlston 34 Walkerburn 0

Duns 64 Walkerburn 0

Earlston 26 Hawick Quins 14

Section B

Berwick 7 St. Boswells 14

RHC Cougars 46 Eyemouth 0

Berwick 66 Eyemouth 0

St. Boswells 7 RHC Cougars 12

Berwick 14 RHC Cougars 24

St. Boswells 41 Eyemouth 0

Semi Finals

Duns 36 St. Boswell 0

RHC Cougars 44 Earlston 5

Final

Duns 21 RHC Cougars 0

DUNS 66 points, DUNBAR 3 points.

Duns entertained Dunbar at the Hardens last saturday in the Semi-Final of the Scottish Hydro Electric Plate competition, and a resounding win by 9 tries, 6 conversions and 3 penalties to a solitary penalty goal sealed their place in the final at Murrayfield on sunday 10th May.

This was the fourth meeting between Duns and Dunbar this season, and although Duns had won all three previous encounters - twice in the league and once in the cup - there was a palpable air of tension and nervousness as kick off time approached.

Preparations for the match had gone on throughout the week, with volunteers cutting and marking the pitch, preparing a pre-match lunch for the team and a buffet for the sponsors. There were also volunteers to collect gate money and sell refreshments at the ground, all adding to the atmosphere of the day, and a warm sun brought out the biggest crowd to cheer on Duns for many seasons. By the time kick-off arrived there would be at least 200 present and they were treated to a spectacle of running rugby as the young Duns backs ran riot.

The opening exchanges were very nervy, with the sides seemingly sounding each other out. Duns played down the slope, but the wind was blowing uphill so it was Dunbar who had the better of the conditions in the first half. After an early miss, Dunbar stand off Keiran Donellan kicked a penalty on 10 minutes to give his side the lead. This brought an immediate riposte from Duns, and straight from the restart a break by Dale Robertson was taken on by Scott Lindsay and he fed Ged Lamb who outsprinted the cover to score in the corner.

Midway through the half Robertson kicked the first of three penalties, and after a long period of Duns pressure an overlap was created on the left wing for David Hutchison to score. He had the presence of mind to come round behind the posts to make the conversion a formality. Minutes later a loose Dunbar clearance kick was gathered by Ged Lamb, and when he fed Dale Robertson the Duns full back ran fully 30 metres to score try number three, which he converted himself. Duns lead by 22 - 3 at the interval.

Dunbar kicked off down the slope in the second half. The kick was gathered by James Murphy, who made ground before feeding Scott Lindsay. A well-timed pass to David Hutchison saw the young speed merchant in open prairie inside his own half - he made 20 metres, and when confronted by his opposite number showed him the inside before rounding him with a burst of pace on the outside for a quite super individual try.

Dunbar sensed that their number was up and as their heads went down the gaps began to appear. Kevin Aitchison on the right wing scored number five following a break by Robertson, and two further penalties took the Duns tally to 40.

In the closing 15 minutes Duns added four further tries to cap an excellent all-round performance by the team. Kevin Aitchison and then Ged Lamb each scored their second tries of the game, one of which was converted by Danny Lamb, and then another scorching run up the left wing brought David Hutchison his hat-trick, and his 16th of the season,  with Robertson's conversion taking his personal tally for the First XV over 500 points and into fourth place on the all-time list.

To round off the scoring the Duns forwards got into the act and Richard Burns touched down at the death.

It would be wrong to single out any individual on a day when a team performance was required, and a team performance was duly delivered. The Duns back line proved that with a decent supply of ball and a dry pitch they have the ability to hurt any team, and the forwards fronted up against a beefy 8 from Dunbar who had the home scrum under pressure all afternoon.

As full time was sounded by the excellent referee, Charles Samson from Howe of Fife RFC, the news came through that in the other Semi-Final Hawick Linden had lost at home to the current holders of the Plate, Aberdeen University. Duns will therefore now face the students in the Final at Murrayfield on sunday week. The final is one of four to be played on the International pitch on the same day ( the Bowl, Shield and Cup finals being the other three ), and so the Duns match will kick off at the unlikely hour of 10.30 am.

A large travelling support is expected to follow Duns to Murrayfield, and ticket / travel arrangements are given elsewhere on these pages and on the Club noticeboard. Tickets for Finals Day, giving access to all four matches, cost £10 and all proceeds from tickets sold through Duns RFC are retained by the Club, and all supporters will be seated together in the stadium. The club would therefore respectfully request that as many supporters as possible make it to the match, not only to cheer the team on but also to provide a much-needed boost to club funds.

The whole day worked like clockwork, both on the field and off, and Duns RFC would like to thank all those who contributed in any way, large or small, to making the day the success it undoubtedly was. Please also spare a thought for Dunbar, who were very generous in defeat, and who to a man wished Duns the very best in the final.

The Duns team was :- Dale Robertson; Kevin Aitchison, Danny Lamb, Scott Lindsay and David Hutchison; Ged Lamb and Marco Crolla; Allen Whellans, Cammy Hill, Chris Archer, Jacobus van Wyk, James Thorburn, Chris Blaikie, Niko Pelasio and James Murphy. The replacements were Martin Aitchison, Richard Burns, Barry Hamilton and Euan Reed.

ROSS SUTHERLAND 5 points, DUNS 13 points