Melrose deny CQP any league points with two late tries

Melrose v Cartha QP Sat 9th Oct 2021

Ewen Campbell was missing from the CQP line up but Graeme Docherty made his first league appearance this season. CQP opened briskly but it was Melrose who got on the board with a penalty conversion after twenty minutes. Immediately prior to this Michael Nellaney had been sin binned. Shortly after this with CQP still a man down Melrose scored the opening try to give them a ten point lead. From the restart CQP pressed up and we’re awarded a penalty which Wayne Burrows converted and with thirty-five minutes on the clock Cammy McAndrew scored for CQP and Wayne converted to level the score at ten apiece. Just before the break one of the Melrose players was sinbinned. CQP directed the penalty into touch took their own ball and drove over the Melrose line to give CQP a 15-10 HT lead.

The second half opened with CQP on the front foot. Hooker Cameron McMillan was making his presence felt with some powerful carries. Forward pressure then saw CQP score a third try which was converted to give them a 22-10 lead. Melrose hit back and a good backs move saw them score in the corner courtesy of their fast paced backs. The score moved to 22-15 but shortly after this Melrose scored again. The conversion was well to the left of the posts but the referee ordered the kick to be retaken and this time the kicker made no mistakes and the score was level at 22 each. With legs getting weary both sides used their bench to freshen things up. Midway through the second half Big G went off. Mark Barrowman was replaced by Zander Kelman and Lachie Stout came on for Tam Davidson. With the game drawing to a close Melrose pressed hard for their bonus point try and with two minutes of regulation time left they achieved this. Three minutes prior to this Callum Folan had been sent to the bin. The Melrose try was successfully converted and Melrose had a 29-22 lead. Unfortunately from a CQP perspective Melrose scored again just before the end to push their score up to 34 points and deny CQP a losing bonus although in the last play from a penalty CQP directed the ball into touch five metres out. The throw in resulted in a bit of a mess and a five metre scrum was awarded. To the dismay of the CQP support the ball emerged at the back of the Melrose scrum and their receiver wasted no time in booting the ball into touch.

FT Melrose 34 CQP 22

Having held a twelve point lead at one stage in the second half the outcome of this game was disappointing from a CQP perspective but given that Melrose are top of the league and were playing at home on their own 3G surface CQP are entitled to feel that they put on a good show. It is noticeable how often tries are conceded when teams lose a player to the bin and this certainly applies to CQP. The final score in this match was a considerable improvement on the fifty-nine nil defeat experienced two years ago.

Next up is another tough match when CQP will face Biggar away.