Melrose completed a remarkable run of sevens victories this weekend, when they notched up their eighth win from 10 tournaments.
At a sun-bathed Riverside Park on Saturday evening, the Greenyards outfit defeated the hosts 5-24 in the final of the 2014 Mainetti Jed-Forest Sevens.
Melrose looked sluggish in their first three ties, but improved as the afternoon wore on and booked their place in the final by defeating Edinburgh Accies 19-5 in the second semi-final.
Jed-Forest put Berwick and Selkirk to the sword in the early rounds, before disposing of a hard-working Gala side 17-14 in the semi final.
The final was a repeat of last year’s, which the hosts won 27-7. But Melrose were determined to avenge that loss and by half-time had built up a 0-19 lead.
Melrose’s first half tries came from Andrew Skeen, Callum Anderson and scampering scrum-half, Tommy Wilson.
Two minutes after the restart and the home side got their first points on the scoreboard with a try from Rory Marshall.
But that was all the scoring Jed was able to manage against an increasingly dominant Melrose seven and, forced to play the last two minutes a man down after a yellow card, proved too big a mountain to climb for the hosts.
The final nail in the coffin came when Melrose’s Lewis Mallin went over for the last touchdown of the day.
Watching his players lift not only the tournament trophy, but also the cup for the Kings of the Sevens title secured several weeks ago, Melrose head coach praised his squad’s incredible winning run: “It’s remarkable, a huge achievement,” Dalziel told The Southern.
“Eight out of 10 I think speaks for itself.”