Lasswade 8

Peebles 14

Allan Beveridge

at Hawthornden

IF last season's results were anything to go by - which included a defeat at Hawthornden - this was always going to be a difficult afternoon.

And so it proved.

With the wind at their backs in the first half Peebles did look the better team, and deserving of their 14-5 advantage at the interval.

Scott Stoddart took a pass after a good break to go in for the first try.

And Murray Brown finished off a good piece of forwards play for the second.

Richard Harrison's clean catch set up a driving maul which led to Brown scrambling over in the corner.

Greg Raeburn added both conversions for a 14-point lead.

But the Midlothian team clawed back five points just before half time following their own forwards drive down the right.

Lasswade had almost scored a similar try earlier in the half but the referee judged a double movement before the ball was grounded and gave Peebles a penalty.

There was further consternation towards the whistler, this time from the visiting pack after scrum after scrum, where Peebles had been on top, were reset.

Further questions were asked about the refereeing decisions when Lasswade's kick off to start the second half went over the dead ball line, and instead of a Peebles scrum on half way they were awarded a 22 drop out.

Lasswade enjoyed more of the ball during the second half and Peebles had to defend well to keep them at bay.

The home chances were improved further with Richard Harrison being yellow carded in the 59th minute for a dump tackle.

And in the 71st minute Raeburn was also shown to the sin bin for a deliberate knock on.

Despite the numerical advantage Lasswade had to settle for a solitary penalty during the second 40 minutes.

It wasn't the most entertaining of matches, but this was still a good win for Peebles who showed glimpses of the attacking threat they are in the first half while defending doggedly after the break.

Tomorrow Peebles will host Preston Lodge at The Gytes. The visitors had a good win over GHK last weekend and will undoubtedly test Peebles. The game kicks off at 3pm.