Philiphaugh

Selkirk 24-19 Kelso

14th October 2017

I have generally enjoyed any Scottish club rugby I have attended on my travels.  But it is probably fair to say, the quality has not always been terribly high.  Generally matches have been won by good old-fashioned honest endeavour, occasionally aided by some less than wonderful defending.

So it pleased me no end to witness this match being won by a sparkling episode of running rugby.  

Selkirk went into this one sitting in second place in National League One, looking to get back into the top flight after having dropped out in 2016.  Their Borders neighbours, by contrast, found themselves closer to the foot of the table than the summit; grateful no doubt that even this early in the season both Stewarts Melville and Falkirk look a pair of relegation-bound basket cases.

That being said, there appeared to be precious little to chose between the combatants for much of the afternoon, I felt.  The visitors had gone ahead early - Iain SIM touching down in the opening few minutes - and, although they had had to rely on the boot of Craig Dods for all their other points, Kelso had led for much of the match.  A penalty by the aforementioned Mr Dods late in the second half had seen the visitors re-take a slender 19-17 lead, and they really looked as if they would see the match out comfortably.

A couple of important turnovers helped, but the home side's cause was hardly advanced by some plain old bad decision making.  A penalty attempt from within their own half which fell well short, reeked a touch of desperation.

But with injury-time looming, and his side seemingly mired inside their own 22, Selkirk's Clinton Wagman suddenly cut loose, scampering almost the full length of the field.  When he was finally downed a few metres short, he found his full-back Steve HAMILTON on his shoulder who sprinted over for what proved to be the winning try.  Most of the bods around me in the stand went bonkers at this, and the Kelso lads as they left the field at time-up looked utterly shell-shocked.  And so they should, for this match were there for the taking.

For the record, Selkirk's other try scorers had been Luke PETTY and Clinton WAGMAN.


There appeared a number of casualties of war in this one; one Kelso chap helped off suffering what looked to my un-medically qualified eyes an (ouch) dislocated shoulder, with at least another couple of visitors having to be replaced during the campaign.  

There was also a bit of collateral damage off the field, when one Kelso kick-to-touch landed plum on the crown of a young girl.  I later saw her in tears, holding a whopping bag of ice to her head.  Poor lady.

Philiphaugh - Selkirk RFC

Philiphaugh - Selkirk RFC

Panorama of Philiphaugh

Philiphaugh

As it sez....The Pavilion

Philiphaugh

Club Shop

Panorama of Philiphaugh

Former Selkirk prop Cata Graur receives a slightly disingenuous round of applause
from a former team-mate, after the big Romanian had been penalised for not releasing.

Panorama of Philiphaugh

Philiphaugh stand and bar.

You can talk about under armour and the like all you want....but this is just basically a man wearing tights.

Josh Welsh - Selkirk RFC

...brought to ground by Iain Sim

Welsh sets off once more.

The scoreboard chaps at Philiphaugh do it the old-fashioned way.

A right sore-looking one this.

From up in the stand.

This was Craig Dod's fourth successful penalty - one which put his side 19-17 ahead.

Steve Hamilton runs in the winning try in the last minute.

"How the heck did we mess that up?", the Kelso chaps appear to be thinking.