Gala up for cup to earn victory in first festive fixture versus Melrose since 2019

Gala players celebrating retaining the Waverley Cup they won in 2019 by beating Melrose 43-15 at home on Boxing Day (Photo: Alwyn Johnston)

Gala bounced back from three defeats on the trot in rugby’s Tennent’s National League Division 1 to win their latest Borders Boxing Day derby at home to Melrose.

Not only did that 43-15 victory at Netherdale see the Galashiels side retain the Waverley Cup contested by the two sides since 2006 but it also helped them make amends for their 63-15 thumping in the league by their neighbours away at the Greenyards at the end of November, their only other meeting so far this season.

Monday’s game was the first staging of the cup – put up by Sykes Global services’ Galashiels office, a sponsor of both teams – since a 26-14 win for Gala at Melrose in 2019, the festive showdown having been put on hold since then by the coronavirus pandemic.

Also their first match since head coach Stuart Johnson’s departure earlier this month, it takes Gala’s tally of wins to six, now just one behind Melrose’s seven, with one match having been drawn.

Melrose's Donald Crawford being chased by Gala's Craig Dods on Monday (Pic: Alwyn Johnston)

On the scoresheet for the hosts with tries were Scott Peffers on 17 minutes and 34, Angus Dun on 27, Fergus Johnston on 41, James Glendinning on 68, Jack Easson on 74 and Liam Scott right at the end, with Craig Dods converting four of them.

Their visitors’ scorers were Struan Hutchison with a 30th-minute penalty and 73rd-minute try he also converted and Ben McLean with an unconverted 58th-minute try.

Dods was delighted to see his side pick up their first win since mid-November, telling Borders Rugby TV afterwards: “As far as our performance went, we’ve needed that massively over the last couple of months.

“It had maybe gone away a little bit but we’ve worked really hard over the last couple of weeks leading into this.

Gala's Craig Dods being stopped in his tracks by Melrose defenders on Monday at Netherdale (Pic: Alwyn Johnston)

“People talk about getting a break over Christmas and stuff like that but I think this has done us the world of good, and playing against Peebles next week is just going to help us keep that momentum going as well hopefully.

“We’re all really trying to play for that jersey again, something we’d maybe lost a little bit and got complacent about.”

“We’ve just got to go week on week and build on performances like this, get some confidence and hopefully carry on winning as many games we can until the end of the season and see what happens.”

Welcoming the return of the cup after two years off, he added: “Everybody loves playing Boxing Day – certainly this side of the fence we love it.

Scott Peffers touching down for Gala against Melrose during Monday's Waverley Cup match

“There’s always a big crowd and it becomes part of your Christmas schedule. It’s probably our biggest crowd of the year, so coming out and putting on a performance like that is really pleasing.”

Melrose’s Donald Crawford readily accepted the better side had won, saying: “We knew it was going to be nothing like it was last month.

“Gala had a lot of boys coming back and we were missing a few players and made a few chances, but at the end of the day, that wasn’t where the 60-odd-point turnaround came from.

“Gala hit the ground running straight away and they played to the conditions better.

Angus Dun scoring a second-half try for Gala against Melrose on Monday (Pic: Alwyn Johnston)

“We were trying to chase the game, but it was tough and we made lots of silly errors at key times.

“Gala were just the better team. They were more up for it and they wanted it more and that showed in the scoreline at the end.”