Harkness breaks hearts on derby day

Published 16 Sep 2011 09:30

Selkirk 41 v 18 Peebles

PEEBLES made the short journey down to Philiphaugh with hopes of breaking their duck in the RBS Premier Division 2.

But it was the home side who were celebrating on Saturday night with a bonus point victory and a rejuvenated Fraser Harkness weighed in with a hat-trick of tries.

This was no one-sided contest as the visitors had their purple patches with a couple of fine tries of their own from Neil Warnock and Drew Moore.

But the home side had the cutting edge for victory.

Peebles did go in front following an end-to-end start to the game. From a scrum Peebles secured quick ball which allowed Neil Warnock to make a fine break supported by Connor Blyth, who returned the ball back to Warnock for him to go in under the bar.

The try was converted and Peebles had deservedly taken a 7-0 lead.

However, Selkirk were to strike back almost immediately with Harkness making the telling break to put Scott Hendrie in at the corner. Cassidy goaled with a fine kick from the wide angle to even up the scores.

The home side went in front following an almost identical move which saw Harkness able to get the ball away to Hendie, who scored again at almost the same spot. Cassidy's conversion made it 14-7.

Peebles enjoyed their best spell of the game, but following some resolute defending had to settle for a Warnock penalty on 35 minutes.

David Cassidy resored the seven point advantage before the break with a penalty.

The home kicker added another three points after the interval and Warnock responded with a penalty five minutes later.

But Harkness showed his class yet again when he broke through a couple of tackles to score near the posts. Cassidy again slotted home the conversion to take the score to 27-13.

With 20 minutes remaining the home side sealed victory with Harkness chasing his own kick to touch down. Cassidy's kick gave Selkirk a 20 point advantage.

Peebles picked themselves up off the floor and came back strongly at Selkirk who had to look to their laurels in defence as the visitors had a spell of pressure.

Good breaks from centre Walsh - beginning to build a good partnership with Neil Warnock - and some fine forward drives were giving Peebles some better field position and, following a dink through by Dale Clancy, Drew Moore was on hand to get the touchdown.

Neil Warnock went close with the tricky conversion but was unsuccessful on this occasion and the score remained at 34-18.

Selkirk had the final word with Harkness storming in for this third try of the afternoon. Cassidy's kick stretched the final score to 41-18.

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This article appeared in Peeblesshire News 16 Sep 11

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