KELSO produced a sensational second-half comeback to beat Hawick in the final of the opening round of the Kings of the Sevens tournament at the Gytes on Saturday.
Kelso reached the final by winning a pool B containing Gala and Biggar, then beating Watsonians in the semi final.
Hawick progressed by winning pool D which contained Melrose and Berwick before beating charity side Hearts & Balls in the semi final.
They led 17-0 at the break and it looked as though the trophy was heading to Mansfield Park, but Kelso fought back and won the match with a last-minute try form Cammy Thompson.
Afterwards Dwain Patterson told Borders Rugby TV: “The boys really dug in and showed some hard edge to come back from three scores down at half time.
“And with two minutes to go in fact to claw three tries back at the end so it was all credit to the boys. It was outstanding today.
“We weren’t panicking to much at half time. They’d scored three tries and we knew we could as well.
“But it got to around three minutes and captain Frankie (Robson) said, ‘Lads, you're not coming here to get embarrassed', and that really kicked is into gear.
“And the boys showed heart and great determination to claw that back against a really good Hawick side. All credit to Hawick, they played some really good rugby.
“It’s a big season for us obviously, being in the Premiership for the first time this century, so it’s a really good platform to start off on."
The full results were as follows: Pool A – Watsonians 26-19 Edinburgh Accies; Selkirk 12-5 Edinburgh Accies; Selkirk 7-26 Watsonians
Pool B – Gala 10-24 Kelso 24; Biggar 14-33 Kelso; Biggar 5-24 Gala
Pool C – Peebles 0-33 Hearts & Balls; Jed Forest 0-24 Hearts & Balls; Jed Forest 12-31 Peebles
Pool D – Melrose 7-24 Hawick; Berwick 0-47 Hawick; Berwick 10-43 Melrose
Semi finals – Watsonians 17-28 Kelso; Hearts & Balls 0-21 Hawick
Final: Kelso 19-17 Hawick
The Kelso squad: Archie Cowens, Cammy Brown, Frankie Robson, Duncan Smith, Hamish Tweedie, James Thompson, Angus Roberts, Andy Tait, Dwain Patterson, Robert Tweedie, Cammy Thompson and Keith Melbourne
The Festival of 7s Rugby opened on Friday evening with the U16s tournament and the large crowd who turned out were entertained by some fantastic running rugby.
Duns were unable to attend so a hastily arranged 'co-optimist' team, aka Peebles Blues U16s, filled in and then some as they managed to get through to The Bowl Final where they met a Hawick Youth side who proved to be too strong.
In the Laurette’s Cup, Peebles dispatched Kelso in the firsst round and Jed in the semis to meet Melrose in the final. And it was the lads from the Greenyards who ran out worthy winners of the trophy.
On Sunday, Jed Thistle won the Colts Sevens Champions, beating Peebles Reds 21-7 in a thrilling final.
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