IT had been a long time in coming, but London Scottish finally lifted the Ladies Challenge Cup at the Melrose Sevens again.

The last time the capital side had climbed the Greenyards steps was in 1965.

But on Saturday they proved too strong for Edinburgh Accies in a pulsating final.

It was the third time Scottish had claimed the prestigious title, following previous successes back In 1962 and 1965.

Scottish’s 29-12 success was based on a solid all-round performance in which former Scotland sevens player, Scott Riddell, and captain Fraser Lyle, who is a current Scotland sevens star, played major parts.

Accies coach Graham Bonner, who now sees his side lead the Ned Haig Kings of the Sevens table with seven tournaments still to play, wasn't too dispondent at the final whistle.

He said: “It was an excellent performance against top opposition and we learned a lot."

In the final, Accies were always chasing the game against a side that scored 139 points in their four ties.

But there was consolation for Accies’ when Richard Mill picked up the Player-of-the-Tournament for inspired performances with earlier wins over Ayr, Durham University, Melrose and The British Army.

Scottish stormed into a 17-point lead in the final with scores from Riddell and a double by Rob Parker.

Accies’ pressure paid off with a try from Vincent Hart on the stroke of half-time.

Mill’s try and conversion after the break cut the gap to just five points before James Spencer raced away to restore the lead and Josh Henderson touched down as Accies ran out of time.

Jed-Forest led the Borders challenge to reach the semi-finals while Melrose went out in the quarter-finals.

In the first of the semi-finals, Scottish ended the Borders hopes with a 43-17 win over Jed-Forest as three tries by Fergus Guiry and two from Spencer proved too much for their opponents for whom the Young brothers, Lewis and Gregor, scored tries.

Melrose lost to Accies after beating Edinburgh University on a day when none of the other Borders clubs made any impression.

Watsonians began their defence of the title with a late try from Charlie McKill against Currie, but then crashed out to Jed-Forest to a Lewis Young try.

The guest sides were made to battle hard and US Tigers included ex-Scotland sevens Scott Wight, but it was a day that Scottish remained supreme.

Results: First round: Peebles 19, Heriot’s 22; GHA 28, Selkirk 14; Boroughmuir 31, Hawick 5; Currie Chieftains 15, Glasgow Hawks 5; Kelso 7, Marr 24; University of St Andrews 20, Gala 19; Ayr 0, Glasgow Hawks 40; University of Edinburgh 26, Stirling County 21.

Second round: Heriot’s 7, London Scottish 36; GHA 0, Stellenbosch University 36; Boroughmuir 12, Jed-Forest 15; Currie Chieftains 12, Watsonians 19; Marr 12, US Tigers 14; St Andrews University 7, British Army 22; Edinburgh Accies 29, Durham University 10; Edinburgh University 12, Melrose 22.

Quarter-finals: London Scottish 31, Stellenbosch University 19; Jed-Forest 21, Watsonians 10; US Tigers 19, British Army 24; Edinburgh Accies 14, Melrose 10.

Semi-finals: London Scottish 43, Jed-Forest 17; British Army 12, Edinburgh Accies 19.

Final: London Scottish 29, Edinburgh Accies 12.

London Scottish: F. Lyle, S. Riddell, L. Berg, T. Walsh, R. Parker, J. Henderson, B. Harris, C. Hudson, F. Guiry, J. Spencer.

Edinburgh Accies: R. Campbell, J. Sole, R. Seydak, S. Melvin-Farr, R. Mill, R. Chalmers, R. Kent, N. Armstrong, N. Stephen, V. Hart.