Hot And Cold Haddington Miss Out

First up for Haddington was a match against local rivals, North Berwick, who had recently won the East Lothian U15 seven a side trophy.

However, that meant nothing as straight from the kick off Jack thumped into his opposite man to set the tone of the match with powerful defence from Haddington from start to finish. And it was big defensive effort that brought the first try as the pressure on North Berwick caused a mistake which Haddington jumped on. A few phases later and the ball was passed sweetly out to the wing to Jack who ran over for a good team try.

Not long after and the pressure told again, but this time it was Cunningham who broke through.

After half time it was all Haddington and after a storming break by the forwards down the middle, the ball was passed out where Jack saw a gap, pinned his ears back and coasted over for a second.

Another try was to come and this time it was pure speed from Dewar as he scorched down the wing to bring the curtain down on a thumping win for Haddington.

Final Score North Berwick 0 : Haddington 22

Next up were Heriots who looked a strong outfit from their previous tie. Unfortunately, Fred Cunningham pulled up with a tweak to his knee just before kick off and the quick switch around seemed to unsettle Haddington. Straight from the kick off, no-one claimed the ball and the pressure was on in the 22. Good tackling from Heriots saw them win possession and break through for the first score.

Straight from the next kick off it was the same again as no-one claimed the kick off and once again Heriots were through again.This happened from the next 3 kicks offs and Haddington trudged together at half time after a very poor showing.

A good team talk and a determination to get some pride back saw a stronger start to the second half. Tackles started to hit, and the ball started to stick. However, a clash of heads in a double tackle for Wright and Thomson meant some big changes to the Haddington team and two of the S2s who had offered to help came onto the pitch. The team was out of sorts and Heriots broke for another try. But Haddington came back and Dewar eventually broke clear for a good score. There were a few more chance for Haddington, however, it was Heritos who scored with the last play of the game.

Final Score Heriots 41 Haddington 5

The results were still good enough to get Haddington into the semi final where they played Melrose the winners of the other pool. The squad was down to the bare bones with Wright and Thomson both out and Fred Cunningham and Eadie nursing injuries. However, Haddington were determined to show a bit more spine and the match turned out to be a cracker with both teams showing good resolve in defence and plenty of strong running in attack.

Melrose got the first convened try as good handling eventually led to an overlap after several phases of play. But Haddington came straight back into it and Cunningham broke through to get over in the corner.

All square at half time and all to play for to see who would make the final. It was Haddington who struck first and it was the speed of Dewar that managed to break the defence and get the score. Shortly after that, Haddington were through on a dropped ball and a quick hack through by Dewar meant a foot race for the ball. Agonisingly, the ball just went dead before Dewar could reach it.

Melrose then worked their way up the pitch and despite some fantastic defence, particularly from Booth, Haddington couldn't hold them out as they scored in the corner with only 2 minutes to go. But back came Haddington and they worked their way up into the 22 before a mistake led to the final whistle and an agonising defeat by two points as Melrose managed to convert one of their tries.

Final Score Melrose 12: Haddington 10

Haddington had restored their pride though in a throughly entertaining final match played with great spirit from both teams.