Sat 7th Dec - Stirling Wolves V Kelso 1st XV - 2pm KO - (15-7)

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Kelso 7 Stirling Wolves 15 half time 0-5 
The choice was between putting up and decorating the Christmas tree after having been to see Frozen 2 or going to Bridgehaugh to watch Kelso playing Stirling Wolves. Due to the incessant rain and the fact that the Stirling Super 6 team was playing on Sunday meant that the Kelso game was played on a different pitch where the brave supporters did not even have the cover of the stand to protect them from the elements. So the game started at 2pm in lashing rain under exceedingly grey skies and the question had to be asked as to whether there would be enough light to finish the game.
Defence was king for the game! Both sides had periods of pressure in the first half but both sides made mistakes by the bucket load as handling was a big problem. Arran Jackson left the field with what looked like a bad leg injury. The referee was keen on the whistle and continuity was not a feature of the games due to the plethora of penalties. There was no doubt that Stirling had the edge in the scrums and, following, a succession of scrums and scrum penalties, they eventually breached the Kelso defence with a try by number 8, Harry Henderson, who was driven over from a maul. The conversion was missed.
Kelso had a good 10 minutes before half time but the Wolves held out to the break with a 5-0 lead.
The second half followed a similar pattern with Kelso being more involved with the successful moments in the match. Matt Kindness broke from his own half and made a mazy run into the Wolves 22 but the support was just not there and the move ended.
Shortly after, a delicate chip by Murray Hastie was pursued by Frankie Robson who gathered the ball short of the line and slid over for the try. Hastie converted to take Kelso into a 7-5 lead.
The lead was, however, short lived, when amazingly the hosts whipped the ball along the line and replacement wing, Jamie Nixon, recognisable because his was the only clean jersey on the pitch, dashed over in the corner. Equally amazingly, Jonny Hope converted from the touch line.
A few minutes later Kelso had the bonus point snatched away when they were penalised in front of the posts. Hope slotted the kick to take the score to 15-7. With very little extra time played, the referee put us all out of our misery to end the game and also Kelso’s winning run of 3 successive league wins.

Kelso team: Arran Jackson; Mark Wilson; Frankie Robson; Matt Kindness; Dwain Patterson, Murray Hastie, Andy Tait; Gareth Clarke; Euan Knox, Blair Robertson; Angus Common, Alexander Thompson, Archie Cowens, Kevin Dryden, Cammy Brown
Replacements: Andrew Ford, Scott Hilton, Harry Graves, Jack walker and Craig Bruce
Scorers: Frankie Robson 1 try and Murray Hastie 1 conversion