Hunter hatrick seals bonus point

Published 23 Oct 2009 13:53 0 Comments

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Peebles 39 v 7 Haddington

BEFORE the game kicked off there was a minute of silence for recently deceased Jim Collins who died recently.

He had been a long standing member and supporter of the club and was ex-director of playing support.

With the sun shining down on a recently thawed Peebles' pitch, the numbers dictated that it should be a close game, with Peebles sitting sixth in the league with Haddington hot on their heels in seventh.

However James Oakes, playing in Peebles' new change strip as Haddington were wearing red, opened the scoring for Peebles early in the match after a missed tackle near the touchline allowed him to break through to score, but the conversion from near touch wasn't struck well and dropped short.

The Haddington defence strengthened after this, but they couldn't use the possession effectively and they ended up with nothing to show for their efforts to clear their lines.

The Peebles' attack paid off nearing the end of the first half after a very uneventful middle, when the Haddington defence finally crumbled to let Donald Anderson break through the defensive line on the left side of the posts and dive in to score the second try for Peebles.

His attempt to convert his own try missed however as the ball drifted left of the posts. It looked like Peebles would get another five points on the board before half time when Alan Smellie made a break from a scrum on halfway, and the path was open for a try.

The Peebles' fans were disappointed though when the referee called him back and gave the Haddington side a scrum for a forward pass.

Peebles attacked from the very start in the second half, and looked to have an easy try in the fifth minute of it when Neil Hogarth made a break into the Haddington half.

He failed to offload however when an overlap appeared and was tackled so the Haddington line had time to reset. The next chance came from a break, but this one was successful as Craig Hunter ran into the corner to score, and Donald Anderson made up for his early miss with a brilliant shot from near touch.

Haddington looked like they had finally got some points up on the board for all their effort when they slipped through the defence of Peebles on the wing, and ran over the line.

This was called back unfortunately for them and Peebles were given a twenty two metre drop out. This was turned into a penalty when a Haddington player kicked the ball away in frustration. Peebles succeeded in getting their bonus point try shortly after this when Craig Hunter scored his second try as after some good passing by the backs he ran in to score in the corner again.

Haddington managed to make another chance for themselves, but like every other move they had made so far the Peebles defence stayed rock solid and stood without faltering long enough for the possession to be regained and the ball cleared.

Craig Hunter scored yet again for Peebles, extending their lead, when he made a break from halfway, handed off the full back and ran in to score his hatrick try.

Peebles eventually finished their scoring when after a good break and some strong support from the forwards, fellow forward Adam Clark managed to spy out a gap in the Haddington line, made a beeline for it, then slipped through for an easy run through to score.

Donald Anderson kicked this conversion successfully to end Peebles' scoring blitz. Haddington got their first points of the game on the board just in the last minute of the game.

After a good attack, the Peebles pack buckled under pressure in a Haddington maul from their lineout and they were driven to Peebles' own line, where the Haddington no. 8, Derek O'Riordan picked up the ball and dived over the line to score and the conversion was kicked by Ross King to give the side seven points.

After one last play, the referee decided that it was time, and blew his whistle.

It had been a tough match for Peebles, but due to their ability to capitalise on many of the opportunities they were given they had extended a massive 32 point lead.

This bonus point win has allowed Peebles to push up into fourth place in Scottish Hydro Electric Premier Two.

This article appeared in Peeblesshire News 23 Oct 09

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