A MASSIVE snow clearing operation at Netherdale on Saturday was rewarded by a sumptuous 56-10 win for Gala over Jed-Forest in the RBS Borders Regional Cup to increase their lead at the top of the league.


The match looked certain to be a weather casualty on Saturday morning but, thanks to the ingenuity of a club member, the pitch was cleared of a snow using a 4x4 with snow plough attached.

With the white stuff removed, the pitch was in glorious condition for running rugby and Gala made sure they made the best of such a good opportunity for open rugby with a performance that was all about pace in the back three, clever use of the ball and sound defence that gave Jed little chance to display their attacking skills.

Gala ran in eight tries, three of them by their former New Year sprint winner, Craig Robertson, who admitted that life is rosy being back at Gala. “I’ve really enjoyed my rugby this season having returned to Netherdale,” he said.

Normally a winger, Robertson played the last third of the match at scrum-half, having replaced George Graham, and did so effectively, his second and third tries being scored from that position. “I played scrum-half at school and for Gala Wanderers,” said Robertson.

Gala had the game won by half-time when they led 25-3, with tries from lock Chris Weir, hooker Russell Anderson and pacy winger Shaun Law, and two penalties and two conversions from stand-off Andy McLean.

Then in the second half, Graham kept the try stream flowing before Robertson ran in his hat-trick and Anderson a second, McLean adding three conversions. For Jed, a late try by Neil Cook and the conversion by Andrew McLean, who had kicked a first-half penalty, was some consolation.

The only other cup match to go ahead was the RBS West Regional match at Ardrossan, where Glasgow Hawks warmed up for Premiership resumption with a 76-7 win over Ardrossan Accies. Hawks ran in 13 tries, including two each from full-back Aubrey Horton and Scotland sevens cap Kerr Gossman.

This article was posted on 19-Dec-2011, 07:43 by Hugh Barrow.