Against stuffy first-round opponents Berwick, an early Hogarth try plus
scores by Moffat and Farmer gave Peebles a 17-7 halftime lead.
A second converted Hogarth try after the break sealed Peebles’ progress
to a quarter-final clash with Kelso.
There, though an Utterson counter cancelled out an earlier one by
Hogarth, D.W. Anderson capitalised on excellent Sangster defence with a crucial
score to give the Gytes men a 12-7 lead.
Just as important was Jocelyn’s second-half counter, for a late
Gillespie try narrowed Kelso’s deficit to 14-17.
But Peebles squeezed through to the last four where the strong-running
Hunter came within a whisker of opening the scoring against Hawick.
Instead, the host club went 14-0 ahead through tries by Robertson and
Coutts before a Clancy score reduced Peebles’ halftime arrears to 5-14.
Though Hunter again went close after the break, a second Coutts try
sealed Peebles fate at 5-21.
And the next day in Round 1 at the Berwick Tournament, Peebles raised
their fans’ hopes by scoring thrice in the first half before Selkirk came from
behind to win by 31-17.
PEEBLES (at Hawick) :
Adam Moffat, Neil Hogarth, Donald Sangster, Dale Clancy, Donald
Anderson, Calum Farmer, Craig Hunter plus Tig Jocelyn, David Anderson and Martin
Thomson.
PEEBLES (at Berwick) : Adam Moffat, Neil Hogarth, Tig Jocelyn, Dale Clancy, David Anderson, Donald Anderson, Calum Farmer, Craig Hunter plus Euan Jackson, Neil Warnock, Ross Ferguson