The Pees travelled down to Kelso on Saturday on another break from league duty on the back of a very impressive display against Kirkcaldy. Peebles were keen to inflict some revenge as the last time Peebles travelled to Poynder Park they were heavily beaten. However the high flying Peebles were keen to show they have plenty of quality and are more than capable of competing in Division 2. Peebles were at full strength as an injury scare from Greg Raeburn, who was injured in a freak wrestling drill on Thursday night was cleared fit to play.


Kelso kicked off and immediately knocked on the ball, allowing the Peebles forwards a chance to show how dominant the scrum has been all year. A solid Peebles scrum from the experienced front row of Adam Clark, Andrew Brown and Ryan Mcconnell, allowed the backs to shift the ball wide, Peebles showing their intent early on with some great phases strung together in their own half, hot Hemara breaking the gain line and some great carrying from the Peebles forwards. However the ball was spilled forward and from the resulting scrum Kelso were awarded an outrageous penalty for Peebles wheeling the scrum, the penalty was converted to allow Kelso the first three points.


Peebles put Kelso under pressure from the restart, a great hit from Connor "the poundtrain" McCann and Kenny Clyde stopped all Kelso momentum which forced the home team to kick for territory. The kick was fielded by Cruikshanks who kicked down park, Kelso returned with another boot this time the ball ending up with Peebles captain "Mick the kick" Kearney whose right footed toe punt was fielded by one of Kelsos centres. Kelso then piled on the pressure in the Peebles 22, but great defense from Callum Scott, Dalton hall, and Graham "biscuit tin hands" Hogarth lead to a great turnover penalty deep inside the Peebles 22. However Raeburns kick failed to reach touch and Kelso were straight back in the Peebles half. Then with the pressure building, a very unusual offside by Peebles hooker Mcconnell gifted Kelso a penalty in front of the posts which was converter to make it 6-0.


Peebles defense was holding strong but all the play seemed to be in the Peebles 22, a strong Kelso lineout allowed the home side to get a rolling maul started which Peebles brought down illegally. Kelso were awarded a penalty which was kicked to touch for a 5 meter lineout. However the home sides attempted driven lineout was brought down by an outstanding sack from Adam Clark, all those bicep workouts finally paying off. Peebles seemed off the hook until referee Cammy Rudkin awarded the home side a penalty try for further foul play. A cruel blow after some great defense from the Peebles front five. The converted try leaving Peebles trailing 13-0.

Peebles then seemed to notch it up a gear, the loose forwards Mcann and Hall taking the ball up well putting Kelso back into their own half for the first time in around 15 minutes. The resulting pressure lead Kelso to give away a penalty ten meters inside their half which Raeburn again failed to hit touch. Peebles were soon back in possession and were starting to dominate in the loose, yet again Peebles were awarded another penalty, this time Donald Anderson stepped up but astonishingly missed touch yet again. The Peebles forwards still reeling from the missed penalties were soon rewarded for their hard work when Connor Blyth broke the Kelso defense and beat another on the right wing to finally pass back inside to Captain Kearney who raced in to touch down right under the sticks, Raeburn finally found his kicking boots and converted to leave the score Peebles 7-13.

With the game wide open, Peebles were up and running. The lineout had been functioning well all game but a very unusual over throw from Mcconnell gifted Kelso possession. However the Peebles defense was solid, great hits from Clyde and Scott stopped Kelso at every opportunity. A great turnover from Clark then allowed Peebles to break down the left hand side with winger Clichy showing great pace. Kelso’s defense tracked back and somehow put the winger into touch. Kelso were back in the Peebles half on the stroke of half time and were awarded a penalty which was converted to make the score 16-7.

The second half saw hooker Mcconnell and prop Adam Clark replaced by Matt Carryer and Rory "the tea pot" Milne. And with some fresh legs on Peebles were straight back in the driving seat putting pressure on the Kelso defense. Hemara was off after a quick penalty and the ball was recycled well and shipped wide, Peebles forwards crashed the ball up round the corner and one more pass saw Rory Milne try and crash the ball over the line only to be held up, too much weights not enough speed work. Peebles were brought back to the Kelso 22 and were awarded a penalty for an earlier infringement with Kelso winger Minto shown a yellow card for the offense. Peebles were pressing and a Hot Hemara break brought the Pees to within 5 meters. Kearney then picked up from the back of a ruck and drove over for his second of the afternoon. Raeburns conversion was wide to make the score 16-12.

Peebles were playing good rugby, with Anderson making sure they were playing in the right areas of the park, Peebles put Kelso back into their own 22 and a great break form Callum "Hung" Scott allowed Cruikshanks to take the ball at pace beat a defender and crash over the try line. Another missed conversion made the score 16-17 to Peebles.

Kelso responded well from the try and were back pressing the Pees into their own half. Peebles scrum was still solid as ever but referee Rudkin made a ridiculous decision to award Kelso a penalty in the Peebles 22 after the hit of the day by Dalton Hall allowed Peebles to steal the ball, this brought the score back to 19-17 in Kelsos favour. Peebles were under relenting pressure for the next ten or so minutes. Another try saving tackle from Hall and some great work at ruck time from Milne and Mcann resulted in Kelso being held up. After another ridiculous decision at scrum time ref Rudkin was subject to a horde of abuse by Peebles own Paul "Bubbles" Stewart, this never changed much and Kelso were again piling on the pressure which lead to the pack rumbling over the Peebles line to make the final score 24-17.
Peebles will be hoping to turn things around next week against Hawick at the Gytes to get back on track before league duty commences, overall a good performance especially from the Peebles pack. Brothers on three!!