For the first time in league history, Haddington and North Berwick met on Saturday for their first ever league game in the Tennent’s East Region League Division One. To mark this special occasion, the Archie Denholm Memorial Trophy was also up for grabs, which hadn’t been played for since 1992. The trophy was first played for in 1969 in memory of Archie Denholm, a founding member of North Berwick rugby club, who unfortunately passed away prematurely in 1968. Originally, the trophy was played for between all the East Lothian clubs as part of their existing fixtures and Haddington won the inaugural tournament, beating Dunbar RFC.

North Berwick were quick out of the blocks and showed why they remain unbeaten this year, with the away team scoring two tries with only twelve minutes of play gone. Nick Hart and Stu Lorimer both crossing the line from driving mauls to give North Berwick a 12-point lead.
North Berwick continued to pile the pressure on the home side through their forward pack and were rewarded when Gus Elder put North Berwick skipper, Connor Johnson over line out wide for try number three of the day.

Haddington managed to get on the scoreboard after sixteen minutes. Haddington fly-half Donald Bathgate signalled to the side-lines for his kicking tee and slotted the three points.

In what was a great advert for rugby in East Lothian, both sides continued to play with width and at pace to give the large crowd plenty to cheer about. Unfortunately for the home side, a period of great play from North Berwick saw Alex Williams cross the whitewash for the away sides bonus try and to end the half with a 3-24 lead.

With the wind now in their backs, Haddington started the second half well and used the wind to their advantage. Now deep into North Berwick territory, prop forward Aarron Thomson crashed over the try line to take the scores to 8-24. Haddington were awarded two further penalties for infringements by the away team, which allowed Bathgate to kick six points and reduce the gap to 14-24.

With the scores locked at 14-24, this was set up for a nail-biting finish to the derby match. North Berwick continued to throw everything at Haddington and a cross field kick allowed Gus Elder to collect and seal the victory for North Berwick.

Haddington RFC would like to thank our match day sponsor, Gordon Bathgate and match ball sponsor, Andy McBain. This was one of the busiest days for the club in a long time, including over 100 people for the match day lunch.

Next up, Haddington travel to Linlithgow on Saturday the 15th of October with a 3pm KO.