Watsonians v Melrose - 15/11/25 - Scottish Cup

Watsonians v Melrose (Scottish Cup) – 15/11/25

This Scottish Cup match was played on a dry and cold afternoon with a cold breeze and intermittent blinks of bright sunshine. As there had been no scheduled fixtures for to-day Donald Crawford had chosen it for his wedding, and, as a consequence, half of the Melrose team was made up of Storm XV players, none of whom let the side down. In fairness, however, the hosts were also light of some senior players. It was nip and tuck for the first thirteen minutes before Morgan Gabe broke down the far side off-loading to Finn Douglas who, in turn, off-loaded to Elliot Ruthven who dotted down between the posts prior to a Scott Clark conversion. Six minutes later, with a penalty advantage being played, Melrose passed the ball left across the face of the posts before a loose ball out of a ruck was fly-hacked through for Corey Goldsbrough to win the foot race for an unconverted try in the left corner. Following a series of picks and drives, at 24 minutes, Stu Allison crashed over for a try converted by Harry Clark. From a penalty lineout rolling maul, on the right and with advantage being played, the hosts passed the ball wide across the pitch with Harry Fisher scoring wide on the left and Harry Clark converting. Then, just on the break, Scott Clark collected a loose ball mid-field and raced to the posts to score and convert.

Half time – Watsonians 14 Melrose 19

46 seconds into the second half Fisher received turn over ball and waltzed through the Melrose defence to score on the left with Harry Clark converting. Four minutes later Dan Kelly, from his own 10m line, sprinted unopposed down the far side for a try converted by Harry Clark. It only took a further four minutes for Watsonians to receive the ball, again, on their own 10m line and take off towards the goal line. Max Garry received the ball on the Melrose 22 and made no mistake in scoring with Harry Clark converting. Ten minutes later Gabe chipped through and won the race to score with Scott Clark converting. At 71 minutes, from a penalty lineout rolling maul on the right, Harry Jackaman scored and Harry Clark converted. With no-side imminent Melrose took a quick tap penalty just inside their own half and advanced rapidly ending with Douglas scoring at the posts with Scott Clark’s conversion ending the match. This was an interesting match, but, unfortunately, ending the Melrose interest in this year’s Scottish Cup.

Full time score: Watsonians 42 Melrose 33

Watsonians – Dom Coetzer, Max Garry, Ronan Kerr, Harry Clark, Dan Kelly, Andy McLean, Brodie Young, Cam Murphy, Bryce Robertson, Donald Voas, Dylan Jakeman, Andrew McInnes, Kwagga van Niekirk, Stu Allison, Harry Jackaman. Replacements – Zander Kelman, Fyfe Robertson, Fin Rounie, Seb Cecil, Fin Stewart, Josh Beveridge, Harry Fisher.

Melrose – Morgan Gabe, Finn Douglas, Corey Goldsbrough, Callum Henderson, Declan Mulcahy, Andy Josefski, Scott Clark, Zen Szwagrzak, Campbell Scott, Oli Anderson, Ollie Furness, Ben Weir, Elliot Ruthven©, Henno Bowe, Ru Campbell. Replacements – Craig Greer, Cameron Kirk, Adam Arkley, Jack Henderson, Jimmy Coull, Matty Bertram, James Barbour.

Referee – Ciaran Stark.

Click on the photo below to view Bryan Robertson’s photos of the match

Photo credit Bryan Robertson Photography