When Stewart's Melville took the field there was reason to be concerned when it was seen that they had three forwards taller than CQP's tallest. This potentially was likely to make our line out throwing in difficult. There was further cause for concern when the visitors were seen to push the CQP pack back in the first scrum.

The opening quarter passed with Stew Mel definitely on top and it was therefore no surprise when they took the lead after twenty two minutes of play as a consequence of their young stand off Scott Docherty selling a successful dummy allowing him to score close to the posts. The same player then converted the try and Stew Mel had a seven point lead.

CQP slowly came more into the game and after thirty four minutes opened their account with a first class backs try. Anthony Nyangweso started things off on the left side and the ball then passed through about four pairs of hands before Tony got the ball back just short of the line and went over for an unconveted try.
The next action of note was a superb try which started with Callum Spriddle exploding through the middle and lead to his fellow wing forward Calum Dickson getting the ball against the base of the upright. This try was converted by Wayne Burrows and half time arrived with CQP holding a 12-7 lead.

A couple of minutes into the second half saw the Stew Mel stand off need medical attention but he was able to continue albeit with a sore shoulder.

With fifteen minutes played Stew Mel scored a second try in somewhat controversial circumstances. A line out appeared to have been formed but Stew Mel took the throw in as though it had not and the ball was thrown to one of their centres which started a move which lead to them getting over the CQP line to give them a 14-12 lead which they increased by three points following a successful penalty.

With both teams fighting hard for supremacy CQP fought back and the pack got over the Stew Mel line for a converted try by David Irvine which gave CQP back the lead at 19-17.

With the clock running down Stew Mel mounted a strong challenge down the right wing which lead to a try in the corner. The conversion attempt failed when the ball caught the left upright and then bounced into play. Stew Mel now lead 22-19 and looked to be on course for victory but CQP were not ready to give in and forced a kickable penalty. Most of those watching expected CQP to take the kick for goal which if successful would leave the game tied but that was not the view of the players who wanted to go for a win. The ball was duly directed into touch close to the Stew Mel line. CQP managed to take their own line out ball but Stew Mel immediately threw additional players into the maul to prevent CQP from getting over their line. Anthony Nyangweso spotted that in the course of doing this they had left a gap of about ten metres between the back of the maul and the corner flag and called for Jonny Campion to pass him the ball which he did and Tony went over. The conversion was missed and the final whistle was blown to the delight of both the CQP supporters and the CQP team.
FINAL SCORE CQP 24 [5 points) Stewart's Melville 22 (1 point )

Like the GHA game two weeks ago this was another thrilling match. As a consequence of this victory CQP move up to joint fourth in the table. Next up is a difficult away match in Galashiels.

Several CQP players played particularly well in the Stew Mel game. The entire pack did their job effectively with the two Callums standing out and In the backs Jonny Campion was solid behind the scrum and Andy Scott looked as though he was ready to tackle anything in a red shirt. Generally the defence was ok with some hard tackles being put in. If we continue to play as we have in our opening three league games then there is no reason why we should not feature in this league next season