2005-06 news

Greig Laidlaw has signed a 2 year deal to become a full time pro with Edinburgh Gunners. Greig who has just completed his third season at Jed-Forest joins the Gunners as a scrum half and will compete with Mike Blair for a starting slot.

Greig was a regular fixture in the Scotland under 21 side during their recent shadow Six Nations and was among coach Iain Paxton’s most consistent performers. He will head to Vichy, France with Scotland in June for the IRB Under 21 World Championship.

Laidlaw said: “Obviously I am really pleased to have signed with the Gunners. They have been the top Scottish side this season and have some quality players. I’m looking forward to getting started and working with guys like Mike Blair.”

Paxton said: “He came to the world championships in Argentina with us last summer and although he sat on the bench for some of it he just got on with the job in hand without complaining and worked his way up.

“He is a good guy and he’s been one of our most consistent performers this year. He understands the game, reads it well and I think the professional environment will help polish his game even further. It is a good signing for the Gunners,” he added.

Greig thoroughly deserves this chance as he has been a brilliant example of how a young local should feel about his club.

Weeks after moving up from Jed Thistle, Greig suffered a major knee injury which kept him from playing for over a year. This did not affect his desire and he was seen on every training night, strengthening his knee on the weights and doing everything possible to make a successful recovery.

When Greig did recover, he found himself down the pecking order at scrum half and spent most of his time at Jed playing at stand off. Even at the start of this season Greig turned out for the 2nds due to the form of Goody, Clark and McGarva and he just got on with it. Earning the man of the match award more often than not. This was done despite the SRU, who had pressured Greig to move to a Division 1 club for a starting slot at scrum half.

Everyone at Jed wishes Greig a very successful career and thank you for all your efforts.

As a foot-note, Greig has started his stint with Edinburgh on a real high. He was part of the Gunners squad that successfully retained the Jenkins and Marr Glasgow City Sevens trophy on Saturday. The Gunners beat their Glasgow counterparts 40 - 24 in the final and he was one of the try scorers.

JED-FOREST were crowned Kings of the Sevens at their own tournament on Saturday but given their poor performance on the day, it looked like it might have been a tournament too many. The job was already done for the Riverside men, thanks to a consistent showing throughout the sevens circuit – and all they had to play for was the pride of winning at home. Perhaps too much was expected of them, because of their unassailable lead in the sevens series, perhaps, with the necessary done, their thoughts were on the party to come.

We were the only Borders side to despatch non-local opposition in the first round, beating Glasgow Hawks by 17-7. Tries from Ross Goodfellow, Greg Laidlaw and John Dampney, with a sole conversion from Laidlaw, was enough to see them past the BT Premier champions, who had both Jamie Murrays from Melrose in their ranks, after Haddington had shocked them earlier.

But they fell almost without a fight in the second round as Stewart's Melville beat them by 29-17. Credit must be given to the very big Stew Mel team though as the blasted to a 3 try lead , completely out muscling the smaller Jed boys and silencing the huge Jed crowd, which was the biggest seen at riverside for years.

Of course, the Royal Blues were not the only team to disappoint the large crowd. Tie after tie in the first round saw Borders teams crashing out. Maybe the border teams were a little disappointing but a more likely explanation that the Edinburgh clubs respect the importance of our 7s tournament. Which was obvious by the strength of the Boroughmuir, Heriots, Stew Mel and Watsonians squads.

The tie of the day was probably the 2nd round clash between Boroughmuir and Watsonians which saw Watsonians scrape to a 24 - 19 victory. Given that there was no border interest left a remarkably big crowd stayed to watch the final between Heriots and Watsonians.

Heriots had been the class side all day with Scott Newlands, John Huston and Apolosi Satala controlling the forward play it was left to man of the tournament Nick De Luca to orcastrate proceedings and Heriots were comfortable winners by 26 points to 17.

1st - £600 Travel Voucher, Sponsored by Travelcare - Kelso. Winner - Harry Wright

2nd - £100 Meat Voucher, Sponsored by J & J Davidson Butchers. Winner - Michael Wares

3rd - Hand made hill walking stick, Sponsored by Gordon Leitch. Winner - Jim McKechnie

Jed captured the Kings of the 7s title in style by winning the Earlston 7s on Sunday. Playing in front of an ever increasing vocal crowd, Jed cruised through the 1st 2 rounds. Beating Langholm and Duns before a very lucky escape against Watsonians. With seconds left and Jed leading 21 - 19 Watsonians were awarded a penalty in front of the Jed posts, incredibly they opted to run it and our defence held firm.

The final was onother great game, and after trailing 19 - 17 at half time 2 tries by Ross Godfellow, converted by man of the tournament Greg Laidlaw saw get home by 31 - 24.

The 2nds also won their 2nd cup of the 7s season, when they captured the St Boswells tournament on Wednesday night.

Two tries in the second half from Wayne Mitchell and centre Jamie Murray, the second four minutes from the end, ended a brave Jed-Forest challenge in the Border League final in front of a crowd of about 800.

Melrose played eight minutes of the first half with 13 players after Jonathan Bradburn and Graham Thomson were yellow carded. Jed No 8 John Dampney was also sent to the sin bin in injury time of the first half, and Melrose cashed in with a Scott Wight penalty and Mitchell's try.

With Jed using the strong cold wind superbly to keep Melrose pinned deep in their own half the game boiled over in 20 minutes when Bradburn was yellow carded for a punch landed on Jon Dampney after being warned a minute earlier for stamping. Greig Laidlaw kicked the penalty to put Jed ahead. Two minutes later, Thomson was sent to the sin bin for a high tackle on Roy McFarlane.

Jed stretched their lead when Laidlaw kicked his second penalty. Scott Wight cut the deficit with a penalty after Jed killed the ball, but a drop-goal from Clark Laidlaw and a third Greig Laidlaw penalty made the score 12-3.

But when John Dampney was sent to the sin bin for repeated infringements, Wight kicked a penalty in the fifth minute of injury time of the first half.

Melrose scored the opening try in 44 minutes, Mitchell being driven over after a lineout drive for Wight to convert, and when Jed were penalised for not releasing the ball, Wight added the goal points and then dropped a goal go to 19 - 12 up.

With things looking very grim Jed rallied and fought like absolute animals, with Clark Laidlaw and Jon Dampney leading the way, to produce some of the best rugby seen at Rivererside for a long time. Greig Laidlaw hit 2 penalties to get to within 1 pont and the cop was going mad. But a pass from Wight released Murray under the posts and Wight added the conversion to destroy Jed's hopes and dreams.

This was indeed a very brave performance and every one of the 22 boys played their absolute hearts out for the Jed cause. It was also great to see a full ground for what was a very exciting evening.

Jed reached the final of the Langholm 7s on Saturday to maintain an almost unassailable lead in the Kings of the 7s. Jed got there with a comfortable against Berwick in the first round. Then a harder 19 - 7 win against a stuffy Edinburgh Accies side. An early 3 try burst saw us home in the semi final against Tuesday night's opponents Melrose.

We met the pro's from Newcastle in the final and we even score first but a full length try just as we were pressing them before half time gave them a 19 - 7 lead and we never got near them after that. Newcastle scored another 3 tries to win 36 - 7.

With Tuesday in mind it was decided that we would rest our players and a squad of only 8 went up to Peebles today. As was expected we struggled and Kelso beat us 31 - 12 in the first round. All the results can be found on the SEVENS PAGE.

The S D U 7s were held a Riverside on Saturday and our 2nds retained the cup in emphatic style. After getting a bye in the first round because Eyemouth didn't show up we were by far the best team there and beat Kelso, Selkirk then Duns in the final.

The 1sts 7s squad had a brilliant weekend, winning the Berwick 7s and reaching the semi final at Hawick to stretch their lead in kings of the 7s to 10 points. With Scott Laidlaw suffering from a groin injury the selectors were forced to bring Jon Dampney into the team and that proved to be a very wise choice as he was very influential in both tournaments.

We reached the semi finals of the Hawick 7s on Saturday and gave the pro's from Newcastle an almighty fright in it. Jed were playing out of their skins and really pressuring the Newcastle possession and that paid off as we were only 14 - 12 down with time running out but some sloppy tackling let them run from their own 22 to kill us off after a brilliant game of 7s. Newcastle went on to win the tournament with an easy victory over Hawick in the final.

The quarter final against Dundee was another thriller. We let them streak to a 19 - 0 lead and were still trailing 19 - 7 at half time but a never say die fighting spirit saw us trough 21 - 19. The first round saw us coast to victory against a week Melrose team as they had 15s commitments.

Jed had a relatively easy route to the semi's at Berwick on Sunday with victories over Peebles and Duns and that set up a clash with Northumbria University who included 4 of the Newcastle squad at the Hawick tournament. We were never under much pressure and came away with a 28 - 14 victory.

We met Watsonians in the final, who were now starting with Robertson (the Melrose winger) and Andew Skeen from Berwick as they had only traveled with 8 players. James Hogg was struggling with a knee injury so we drafted in Frazer Harkness from Selkirk as cover for ourselves. We took an early lead but the final was spoiled when Robertson was sin binned for dissent and we went on to a fairly comfortable 35 - 22 victory.

We now have a good lead in the Kings of the 7s tournament and I think that Newcastle are only playing at Langholm and Peebles so it looks like we will need to get another 10 points from the last 4 tourneys to win the title. You can see the table and all the results on the 7s page.

Jed completed an unbeaten Border League qualifying campaign on Tuesday night with a successful trip to Langholm. Jed won 45 - 16 but that is probably a touch harsh on a very well organized and plucky Langholm. We lead 19 - 16 at half time but Langholm had controlled much of the possession and were probably the better team up to the break. With Jed used to a higher intensity of rugby this began to show and Langholm tired allowing us to score 26 unanswered 2nd half points. Jed's points came from tries by Jon Dampney (2), Simon Lightbody, Roy McFarlane, Scott Laidlaw, Ross Goodfellow & Ali Hall. Greig Laidlaw kicked 5 conversions.

This result gives us a really exciting and meaningful end to our season as we can now look forward to playing Melrose in the final on home soil on Tuesday the 25th at 7.30pm. We are also leading the kings of the 7s race so please come down and support us because there is plenty to play for.

Jed travel to Langholm on Tuesday night in search of the points that will take us into the final of the Border League. We only need 1 bonus point but hopefully we can reach the final in style to build up confidence to play Melrose who have already qualified. Jed go with the same squad that defeated Kelso last week except for Murray Brown who comes onto the bench for the injured Michael Weekley. The team is on the team news page.

Jed were beaten 24 - 7 by last weeks conquers Boroughmuir in the 2nd round of the famous 7s yesterday. Some shocking tackling gave Boroughmuir a soft 19 - 0 lead early on and a Ross Goodfellow try at the start of the 2nd half gave us hope, but a Gary Hill touch down was rightly disallowed for a foot in touch and that was that as Boroughmuir scored again to go through.

Jed reached the 2nd round by beating Glasgow Hawks 19 - 10, with Jamie scoring 2 tries with Roy McFarlane adding another. Even though it's disappointing to go out we did earn 3 points in the Kings of the 7s tournament by reaching the 2nd round and that's enough to give us a 1 point lead in that competition.

The 2nds also faired pretty well yesterday, reaching the semi final of the Dumfries 7s. An easy win over Wigtonshire set up a tough game against Peebles 2nds which only saw us scrape through after injury time.

A special thanks have to go to Peebles who loaned us a couple of players for the semi final. We had only traveled with 8 players, and niggling injuries to Pip Renwick and Donald Galbraith saw us very short in numbers.

In the semi final we were beaten 25 - 21 by the eventual winners Kilmarnock and most worrying of all was the injury sustained by Michael Weekley when he scored a consolation try in the last move of the game. A stray knee by the covering tackler caught Michael in the ribs breaking one of them. Michael was taken to hospital and it is expected that he will be detained for a couple of days. Everyone from Riverside wishes Michael a speedy recovery.

Jed-Forest’s Greig Laidlaw has been named to start in the Barbarians side to take on the Royal Navy at Plymouth Albion RFC in a centenary match on Tuesday 4 April, kick-off 7pm.

Laidlaw, son of David and Lorna, nephew of former Scotland great Roy and cousin of Scotland 7s’ stand-off Clark, will line up under the captaincy of former Springbok captain Bobby Skinstad and he becomes only the 3^rd player from Jed to pull on the famous jersey.

Greig said: “I’m over the moon. I could hardly believe it when I saw the letter to say that I’d been selected. I looked in the paper today and saw that Bobby was going to be the captain and that was great too. I’ll be playing behind him so I’m really looking forward to learning from it.

“I definitely think you have to look to the best if you want to be the best. I’ve looked to Gary Armstrong and my uncle as guys from Jed-Forest who have played in my position. Both of them played for the Barbarians too,” he added.

Greig was the first choice scrum-half for Scotland Under-21 in the recent shadow Six Nations and played a pivotal role in their historic first win away from home against Ireland Under-21 in Athlone, winning 24-21, and in Scotland’s closing 21-14 victory over Italy in Benevento.

Scotland Under-21 coach Iain Paxton said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for Greig to prove himself once again after our recent shadow Six Nations championship. He was one of our most consistent and outstanding players. He has proved himself already as a more than competent scrum-half at under-21 level so this will be a reward for his efforts.

“Myself and the other under-21 coaches have watched a lot of club rugby this season and we can see there is talent out there. Greg came through the system and played his first under-21 game last season.

The Barbarians have played three matches so far this season and Laidlaw follows Border Reivers’ Simon Danielli and Semo Sititti and Edinburgh Gunner Matt Mustchin in pulling on the famous black and white hooped jersey of the invitation side.

BARBARIANS v ROYAL NAVY

Jonny Ufton (Cambridge University); Tom Beim (Pertemp Bees & England), *Jon Bryant (Newport Gwent Dragons & Wales), *Mark Fatialofa (Exeter Chiefs & Samoa), Kenny Bingham (Newbury); Dafydd Lewis (Cambridge City), *Greig Laidlaw (Jedforest); *Wayne Reed (Launceston), Andy Dalgleish (Oxford University), Peter Bucknall (Coventry), Andy Smith (Army), *Chris Bentley (Exeter Chiefs), *Danny Thomas (Plymouth Albion), *Matt Cornish (RAF), Bob Skinstad, captain (Richmond & South Africa)
Substitutes: George Davis (Exeter Chiefs), Chris Ritchie (London Welsh), Brett Luxton (Plymouth Albion), Richard Baxter (Exeter Chiefs), Alex Page (Bedford Blues), Ian Humphreys (Leicester Tigers), *Nat Saumi (Plymouth Albion & Fiji)

* - indicates new Barbarian

There are spaces available in the 200 club. It only costs £5 per month, so if you'd wish to join. Please just ask anyone at Riverside.

Jed squeezed home 15 - 14 against Selkirk despite a late scare when some desperate attacking from the home side ended with a fine try scored by Harkness in the corner, Guy Blair had the chance to put Selkirk ahead with the conversion but fortunately for Jed this was to be his only miss of the day. In fairness though Jed looked to be the side in control for long periods of the match but the scoreboard remained tight throughout the match with both sides looking to finish as the top Border side in Division 2. Selkirk had the slight wind advantage in the first period and scored first when Jed were offside at a ruck. A sustained attack into the Selkirk half allowed Greg Laidlaw to level the scores at 3-3 but this didn’t last long and another penalty made it 6-3 to Selkirk, another attack allowed an easier shot at goal for Laidlaw to level, but he pulled the kick wide (probably his only mistake all day). Selkirk were able to take a 9-3 lead into halftime when Hill was harshly judged to have made a high tackle on his opposite number when the touch judge flagged him.

Jed turned up the heat in the second period with some good drives off the line outs and some good tactical kicking from the half backs. The game was all square after 2 Laidlaw penalties and Jed looking well in control but when a long range penalty struck the post and when Selkirk broke through it took a brilliant effort by Smail to get back and tackle Harkness with the line at his mercy it looked like the game could swing either way. Jed kept their composure and a 4^th Laidlaw penalty followed soon after by a neat drop goal looked to have secured the points for Jed with around 5 minutes to play, Selkirk however had other ideas and produced some good attacks to test the Jed defence that had looked pretty solid all day resulting in the tense finish to the day.

Jed are enjoying a much better spell at the moment and seemed to have turned the corner after a dismal start to the year obviously it was good to get the services of Greg Laidlaw back after being away with the Scotland U21 for their 6 nations campaign and he had a fine game especially when you consider it was his first outing at stand off for almost 3 months after playing scrum half with Scotland, a role he will play for the Barbarians against the Army and Navy at Plymouth in early April. Simon Lightbody had a good game as well especially in defence where he did a great marking job on Ally Dickson. Up front Scott Laidlaw and Donald Grieve made some good turnovers Gary Elder had a busy game and Ally Hall made some fine tackles. Captain Ross Goodfellow again led by example with another tireless display.

The seconds put themselves into prime position to remain in the Premiership 2nds league with a narrow, tense and exciting finish to our last away match of the season. We are now 2 wins above Melrose with two matches to go but we are still awaiting the outcome of us claiming points against both Muir and Heriots as they failed to get teams against us recently - any points awarded in these will see us safe.

Jed with the wind and slope in their favour in the first half, Jed kept the home team pinned in their half for long periods with good kicking from Amos. Amos neatly nailed a drop goal but Elliot missed with a harder attempt at goal before a great individual try by Kiwi Morrison. He collected a pass by Heard and ghosted through a hole before chipping the full back and winning the race to the ball under the posts and Elliot converting. Melrose reduced the lead with a penalty in a rare visit to the Jed half but this spurred the home team on and on the strike of half time their right winger came off his wing and looped past the Jed defence to score in the left hand corner for a 10-8 half time score.

Jed scored early in the second half through an Elliot penalty to go further ahead but Melrose stormed straight back with a catch and drive by a front lineout move to make the scores level. Things at this stage look a bit worrying with Scot Aiken controlling their pack and Jed were leaking penalty after penalty and Broom put the home team in the lead for the first time. Jed to their credit fought back and pressed but sub Nod Laing surprisingly missed 2 kickable chances but we did draw level with a penalty straight in front of the posts with Amos getting the goal.

Both teams now pressed for the win but with just 2 mins remaining Jed got another penalty far out on the right and Amos nailed the kick to regain the lead but the game was far than over with Melrose throwing everything at us for the win - so much so that they refused to kick 2 easy kicks to go for the win. A bone crunching tackle from Brown sealed the win and picking up 4 stitches in the process.

Not the most attractive win but the players never gave up and used the elements better and the old heads certainly controlled things with Amos, Nod, Garry Young and Murray Brown to the fore. Andy Morrison, Heard and Ferguson also showed up well so no matter which league we play in next season what with the Border League back, we have proved we can compete at this top level and survive.

Jed produced their best performance for months when the beat Peebles 29 - 0 at a freezing Riverside on Friday night. Keen to keep a 100% record in-tact in the Border league, Jed started strongly with the backs moving ball quickly, but all to often a stray pass or fumble spoiled their efforts. Although Jed totally dominated play. A touch down from Scott Laidlaw, after a driving maul was all Jed could manage in the first half. Although Scott had another try disallowed for a double movement.

The second half was pretty much the same with Peebles struggling to get out of their own half until the last 10 minutes. Some great control by the forwards saw Scott Laidlaw score 2 more tries to complete a hat trick and boost the boys jug count for players day. Hendy weighed in with another forwards try, but the best of the night was finished off by Jamie McCraw after a fine sweeping move by the backs. Gary Hill only converted 2 of tries but luckily his kicks were not needed as much as they have been recently.

Jed have still got to play Kelso and Langholm in their pool and after a solid performance like this they can look forward with a bit of optimism for the rest of the season.

Ex Jed player and grammar school teacher Tim Van Vliet who now teaches in Ireland, had a bunch of boys over here through out the weekend, and they enjoyed a couple of friendly games against his ex pupils from Jed. The Irish were a bit stronger than our lads but it was a very successful evening.

Jed 2nds scored a convincing 31 - 3 win over Kelso 2nds in the Border District League at Riverside tonight. In a really sprightly and entertaining performance Jed scored 5 tries trough Tom Elliot, Kevin Amos, Jon Dampney, Robert Ferguson and Robert Hogg, Tom Elliot also kicked 3 conversions.

There were some really encouraging performances from Robert Hogg, Tom Elliot, Nick Burt and the ever impressive Robert Ferguson but most impressive of all was Ross Heard. We thought that we had lost Ross earlier in the season but lets hope that we can keep him from now on because he was outstanding tonight and he can be a real asset for Jed.

On a freezing Saturday at Riverside Jed ground out a 20 - 7 victory over Berwick and almost certainly sent them into Division 3 as a consequence.

That game started with a hugely controversial double sin binning. Paul Pringle (the Berwick flanker) head butted Hendy in full view of everyone in the ground and of course Hendy had to stand up for himself. The ref saw everything and described the incident exactly as it happened to both players, but incredibly both only got a yellow card. This was probably the most exciting moment of the first half especially for us Jed supporters as both teams seemed to be playing with a bar of soap rather than a rugby ball. Berwick scored the only points of the half through a converted try.

The second half was a much better spectacle though. Jed started to keep possession and the pressure was showing a Berwick were giving away penalties and Gary Hill had his kicking boots on. 5 penalties later and we were 15 - 7 up. Neil Smail made the game safe near the end with a well worked try out wide.

It's always nice to win, but it looks as though Berwick will be relegated and that is not a good thing for Border rugby at all. Especially with one of our own (Kevin Armstrong) coaching them. Berwick have a good club system so lets hope they can bounce back.

At last !!! Jed finally secured their first win of the year after a terrible six game losing streak. With an early start needed for the 1pm kick off it looked as though Jed were in need of a wake up as the home side were taking the game to Jed in the early stages and an early try gave them a 5-0 lead. A Gary Hill penalty got Jed off the mark and after some pressure on the home try line Hendy ploughed through the defence with a well timed run, a fine conversion from Hill extended the lead. The home side immediately responded and when Neil Cook was harshly carded for bringing down a maul the lead was cut to 8 – 10 , then right on half time Hill thumped over a great long range effort to give Jed a halftime lead at 8 –13.

This is Jeds’ last major away trip of the season as all remaining games are now in the Borders. It was by no means a great performance but a win in Glasgow is always a good result and when you have lost 6 in a row it couldn’t come soon enough. With next weeks game against Kelso doubling as a Border League game hopefully we can look ahead with confidence but there is still plenty to work on. The return of Scott Laidlaw into the back row helped us and Donald Grieve also showed up well when he came on Nicky Bates also did well especially when you consider he finished a nightshift at 7 am before playing. Gary Hill gave a much better account of himself in his stand in role at 10. Simon Lightbody and James Hogg both played well and the return of fullback Neill Smaill was also good to see after a lengthy absence.

The second half started in the same vane as the first with Jeds pack well on top and the backs using the ball intelligently. 2 further tries came in this half and the first was a classic forwards score. A lineout on their 22 resulted in a catch and drive, they tried to sack it but failed and the Jed pack literary sprinted over the line in tandom with Rob Ferguson bagging his second score! Stew Mel managed a score for themselves in a seldom visit to the Jed half. A sweeping move resulted in the 4th try and good hands in the backs saw Tom Elliot squeezing in at the corner. After this Stew Mel stepped up their level in the last 20 mins with their speedy winger and Sky Lawrie prominante but a Hill penalty late on secured the points.

A great match to watch with skill levels very high from both teams. The whole team stepped up a level and played extremely well and surely a lot of lads put their hands up to the first selectors so its hard to single anyone out. Brown, Hall, Cook & Ferguson in the pack and Hogg, Hill and Smail stood out but it was truly a team performance but man of the match was easy as one lad stood above everyone else as he was simply everywhere - Don Grieve.

This result moved us out of the relegation zone and sets us up with a potential winner takes all clash with Melrose in our last game. Check out the league standings here. http://www.scottish2xv.org.uk/ we got 3 points from Saturday which has to be added and we get 1 point per game just for showing up.

Jed suffered another demoralizing defeat on Saturday when they were beaten 10 - 9 by Cartha Queens Park at Riverside. Jed started brightly and took the lead through a Gary Hill drop goal. Cartha hit back with a try from inside their own half. Jed's attack broke down and a well worked counter attack down the far side saw the winger dart in. Gary Hill kicked a monster penalty just before the break to give us a 6 - 5 half time lead.

Hilly kicked another pen but we never looked safe at that and once again our mistakes were punished. Another knock on in their half saw them break up the middle and although they were stopped short of the line, sheer numbers told and they went over in the corner.

A much better performance this week, but we will need to improve a lot for saturdays trip to Dundee.

Hawick 17 2nds 13

On a terrible pitch and possibly a worse referee in charge both teams "fought" out a typical Border match and Jed deserved to get something out of this match. Hawicks backs out wide looked dangerous and they showed good skills to romp over in the corner early on. Jed then hit back through a penalty from Laing and then took the lead when the Jed pack drove a lineout over with great determination. Don Grieve getting the touchdown with Laing converting. Hawick then leveled the match with a long range goal by their no 8.

After Paul Hill was taking out of the lineout in the air a wee scuffle occured until Hawicks no 7 ran in and delivered 3 punches on Hume while on the ground straight in front of the referee - but incredibly nothing was done!

The second half continued to be a hard affair with some brutally hard rucking from both sides but Jed took the lead with a pen from Laing. Jed were on top during this 2nd half but Hawick looked dangerous on the counter and with 8 mins to go their winger darted away down the touchline from a ruck into the corner which they also converted. Jed fought back and from a lineout they once again drove over the Hawick line but the ref ruled the ball was held up. One of these weeks a decision will go our way!!

For Jed Andy Morrison found his kicking boots again, Nod controlled the match and Vinny was solid in defence once more but the pack all played well. Weekley was everywhere, Cooky did well but Rob Ferguson more a huge amount of ground carrying the ball. 4 games to go and its going down to 2 out of us, GHA and Melrose going down but we need a win before our last match of the season against Melrose.

We were able to field 3 teams this weekend for the for the first time in ages, but truth be told that was because most of the guys from Friday's 2nds game also played for the 3rds on Saturday.

Playing with a 15 man squad against a young YM side Jed scored 3 tries through Mark Cotgrave (2) & Eithie. Robin Laing converted al 3 and kicked a drop goal.

Jed are still without a win in 2006 after losing up in Edinburgh to complete a dreadful set of results in January after finishing 2005 on a high with a comprehensive defeat of Hawick on Boxing Day. Saturdays game got off to a bad start when we found ourselves 13-0 down in the first quarter but the boys rallied and with the aid of a decent kicker should have been right back in the match missing 3 penalty chances and turning down another to try for a lineout in the corner which also went t*** up again!!

The second half didn't start too well either when we were wheeled off our own put in and then driven over the writing was on the wall at 20-0 down but from there on it was all Jed first Gary Hill found a way through after several phases and then Jon Dampney was on hand to touchdown from a lineout drive to narrow it to 23-10 . Unfortunately the Achilles heel that has plagued us all season our lineout was playing up again which allowed Accies of the hook on a number of occasions. It wasn't until the last play of the game when Jon Dampney continued his good scoring streak by crashing through under the posts to allow Nagle to convert and at least take a consolation bonus point. A plus point for Jed was the performance of David MacLeod who put in a good solid display on his Jed debut.

Jed 2nds were also in action up in Edinburgh but were soundly beaten by Stew Mel 2nds 38-7 although they were only trailing 8-7 at the break the makeshift backline was cruelly exposed in the second period.

Jeds miserable start to 2006 continued with another poor performance in the 4th round cup tie against Premier 3 side Livingston. In much of the same manner as last saturday Jed were turned far too often and far too easily. The reshuffled back line handled poorly as well with the accuracy of the passing throughout the side atrocious at times.

Jed played in fits and starts in the first half which they dominated most off a try from Jamie McCraw and a penalty by Donald Grieve had Jed 8-3 ahead but Livingston bounced back and scored a try to level it up. Just before the break Jed got the phases going and should have scored in the corner but again the final pass from Dampney to Tom Elliot was not accurate enough. Jed also had an earlier try chalked off for a forward pass after fine interplay from Roy McFarlane and Bevan Hart but Bevans' final pass was adjudged forward. So the sides went in level at half time 8-8.

The 2nd half started well for Jed with an early try from Jon Dampney and a penalty from Grieve to put us two scores clear at 16-8 and with Jed on the attack things were going to plan but Jed were again turned over after some blatant handling at the ruck and from that moment on the next 25 minutes or so belonged to LIvingston who showed much greater hunger for the game than the Jed side and urged on by a large and vocal home support they put themselves into the next round off the cup. They were also aided and abetted by some of the worst officiating during the last 25 minutes I have ever witnessed, and it got to the Jed side as they were unable to deal with it.

Tough times ahead for the Jed players as they face the top 3 sides in the league in our next 3 matches and with Greig Laidlaw ruled out as he is in the U 21 squad and Clark Laidlaw and Mark Lee away with 7s squad the return off Neil Smail, Gary McGarva and John Szkudro from injury and James Henderson from his trip to Australia can't come quickly enough.

Jed 2nds were unlucky not to beat second placed Stirling County in their league match at Bridgehaugh going down narrowly 16-19. Jed were leading after a try from Andy Morrison and if the referee had been able to see Steven Hume drive over just before half time Jed would have been well placed to finish them off but with Greg Nagle adding 3 penalties and a conversion they kept in the hunt but Nagle was unlucky to narrowly miss with the last kick off the match to level the scores.

Jed will be without 3 key players for most of the remainder of the season but for all the right reasons as they have been selected to represent Scotland.

Greg Laidlaw has once again been selected for the Scotland U21 team. Greg was in the Scotland U21 squad for last years world cup in Argentina where they finished in 6^th position, their highest ever placing. He is also eligible for this season and played in both of this season’s autumn warm up games against an Edinburgh Gunners development XV and Stellenbosch University. Both games ended in defeat but Greg scored a try in the Stellenbosch game and he was voted Scottish man of the match by the South Africans.

Greg also played in last Mondays heavy defeat against Sale Jets (Sale 2nds) and by all accounts he once again played very well. They are in action again today in a final warm up game against Newcastle Falcons before the 6 Nations kicks off on the first weekend of February.

Greg is the first Jed player to gain an U 21 cap for 7 years, with Gavin Kerr being the last. Let’s hope Greg does as well as Gavin.

Clark Laidlaw and Mark Lee have also been selected for International honours with the 7s squad. They will be away for 2 weeks playing in the New Zealand and Los Angeles tournaments of the IRB Sevens circuit. They will then be home for 10 days before flying out to Australia as part of Scotland’s Commonwealth Games squad. The whole squad, not just the 7s team are going to a holding camp in Bendigo (3 hours north of Sydney) for 3 weeks to get acclimatised to the Australian heat.

After being home for a week they will be back on the IRB 7s circuit for the Hong Kong and Singapore tournaments before returning in mid April.

Haddington were 1st on the score board after a well worked overlap allowed them to score an unconverted try in the corner. Haddington kicked a penalty and nothing much happened for Jed until Jon Dampney took a quick tap penalty from 10 yards out and barged his way over for a well deserved try, which Gary McGarva converted. Haddington kicked another penalty and that gave then an 11 - 7 half time lead.

Jed got themselves back into the game with 2 McGarva penalties but that was short lived. Haddington refused a chance to kick at goal and nudged the ball into the corner. They collected the lineout ball and from a drive they barged over for a converted try. With 10 minutes to go Simon Lightbody jinked through 3 defenders and fed Ross Goody who did the same to cross for a converted try, which gave Jed a 2 point lead. A further penalty by McGarva stretched the lead and we looked pretty safe.

The game was in injury now and Haddington were getting desperate and after 5 minutes (god only knows were the ref found all the time) disaster struck when Haddington broke through under the posts for a converted try. Incredibly the ref re started the game but Jed could not score in the 2 minutes he allowed.

This was a game that slipped away and in truth we were maybe 2nd best on the day. It came at a cost too as it emerged that Gary McGarva had finished the game with a suspected broken hand. With Greg and Clark Laidlaw both away on international duty for most of the rest of the season, the coaches will have a real problem at stand off.

The 2nds had a much better result when they beat Biggar 2nds 21 - 13. They had loads of pressure and plenty of opportunities to score a try, but the constant Biggar spoiling gave Robin Laing the chance to kick at goal and he kicked 7 out of 7 penalty attempts after answering a call to make a rare appearance because of a shortage of backs.

There's not a lot to be said about Saturday's defeat at Gala cause it really was that bad. Gala got off to the quickest start and scored an unconverted try before Jed replied through a Greg Laidlaw penalty. Gala kicked a penalty to make it 8 - 3 at half time but they also had a player sin binned right on the whistle.

Gala had another player binned but we could not take advantage and they kicked another penalty when they were back to full strength. Bevan Hart was sin binned just after coming on as a sub and in his absence we put real pressure on the Gala line for a good 5 minutes, but we could not capitalize and we never threatened after that. Gala killed the game off with a try in the corner which was brilliantly converted.

All in all a very disappointing performance with only Jon Dampney and David Grieve standing out for Jed, lets hope Saturday sees us get back on track.

Better news came from the 2nds though, they beat Gala 2nds 17 - 0 at Riverside. Jed were 7 - 0 up after 2 minutes when Craig Goodfellow sliced through for a try which was converted by Andy Morrison. This stayed the same till half time although we really should have been clear but we could not take advantage of all the possession.

The second half saw further tries from Ali Hall and Andy Morrison but both kicks rebounded of the posts to give Jed a fine 17 - 0 victory.

Saturday saw the encouraging debut of David MacLeod our new back row player from Canada. David is over here for a few months and is following in his dad's (Bingo MacLeod) footsteps. Bingo played for Jed in the 60s

Jed produced their best best performance of the season to shock Hawick at Mansfield park and take the Graham Skeldon Memorial Cup.

Playing against the wind, Jed struck first with a penalty from Greg Laidlaw after 15 minutes. This changed when Hawick barged over for a try, to take a 5 - 3 half time lead.

Jed were down to 14 men at the start of the 2nd half when Donald Grieve was sin binned but Hawick could not take advantage. Greg put Jed back in front with another but the next score was special. Roy McFarlane went on a great run and bamboozled his opposite number, who ended up on his backside and Roy romped under the posts to complete a great weekend for himself, as he also got engaged. Greg converted to give Jed a 13 - 5 lead. Hawick piled the pressure on but the Jed defence were out standing and Greg sealed the match with a last minute penalty to give Jed a 16 - 5 victory.

Coach, Calum Brown said "it was an outstanding performance", singling out Jon Dampney for his brilliant tackling and snuffing out of the threat from the Hawick back row.

Bruce Douglas the Borders and Scotland prop is to help Jed's coaches as part of the SRU'S efforts to build bridges between the pro and amateur teams. As part of this help, Bruce will be at Riverside tomorrow night (Tuesday) to help out at training. Jed's forwards coach, Calum Brown is keen to get the best of use from Bruce and has asked that all the forwards attend training.

Jed scraped to a narrow 25 - 23 victory at G.H.A yesterday and moved up to 3rd in the League as a result.

Jed started really well and were 16 - 0 up through 3 penalties from Greg Laidlaw and a converted Gary Hill try. Just before half time though G.H.A scored an unconverted try to make it 16 -5.

The momentum had now changed as Jed were struggling with injuries. Neil Smail took a bad knock to his sternum and might be out for 6 weeks. Simon Lightbody and Roy McFarlane were forced off with head knocks although Roy did return. Donald Grieve was also off for a bit but returned. These circumstances helped G.H.A to get back into the game and it was 16 - 13 with about 10 minutes to go.

The final 10 minutes were a roller coaster of emotions and Jed were behind twice with both teams kicking a drop goal but Greg Laidlaw's 2 penalties were enough to rescue us and scrape a very fortunate victory.

It was fortunate because G.H.A had a last gasp penalty in a kickable position but a bright prop took a quick tap penalty and even though the referee had his arm out for another penalty for Jed not retreating 10 meters. He decided that after a couple more pick and drives by the G.H.A forwards had given them enough advantage and when Jed stopped them for a scrum the ref blew for time.

The seconds were not so lucky during a disastrous game. trailing 14 - 0 after 2 minutes Jed had begun to fight back but their patched up team started to fall like flies. Going there with 16 players was never going to be ideal especially with 2 carrying bad injuries and 1 over 40, but needs must.

Trailing 28 -0 with 20 minutes to go, Jed were down to 12 men and it was decided to call a halt to the game by the Jed management because of safety concerns.

Jed have been given a tough away draw at Livingston in the 4th round of the BT Cup. Livingston are currently in the middle of BT Premiership Division 3 having won 7 and lost 4 games. This game is to be played on Saturday the 21st of January with a 2pm kick off.

Jed are through to round 4 of the BT Cup after a 41 - 12 victory over Dumfries on Saturday. Jed's try scorers were Roy McFarlane, Neil Smail, Jon Dampney, Ross Goodfellow and Jamie McCraw. Greg Laidlaw kicked a penalty, a drop goal and 5 conversions.

The seconds were on the wrong end of a 29 - 3 score line against Glasgow Hawks 2nds. After conceding a try in the first minute Jed dominated possession but were still trailing 8 - 3 at half time. Jed were still pressing on in the second half but 3 long range tries gave Hawks the victory.

As most of you will be aware, we held a Children in need charity night the other week. I can now tell you it was a brilliant night and a huge success. We raised over £1000 and hopefully lifted everyone’s spirits.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank a few people for their help in bringing everything together. Firstly thanks to Keith and Bobby from Radio Borders for keeping everything going so smoothly. Thanks to all our acts including Bib Hogg, Scott Slorance and especially our local band GAASD, Eileen & Lynn our Hairdressers and Laura and Leanne the Beauticians were also very much appreciated. The CO-OP Superstore also helped by supplying our crackers etc and the Carters Rest sponsors table also held a raffle raising £105.

The match reports are on the match report page, remember you can get all the player's scoring stats etc on the player profile page.

Jed draw 12 - 12 with Kelso at Poynder park on Saturday. The game was played in windy conditions and in front of a pretty big crowd but the play did very little to warm them up.

I'm not going to go into any great detail as this was a dire spectacle dominated by Kelso's aggressive defence and both teams lack of penetration from any decent play.

The 1st half ended 9 - 9 with 3 penalties each from Gary McGarva and Kevin Utterson, with both missing just as many as they hit. Jed were having real trouble in the line-outs and the coaches tried to change things by subbing Michael Graham and Neil Cook for David Grieve and John Szkudro but things went from bad to worse and Michael was back on mid way through the 2nd half.

The 2nd half was even worse with only a penalty apiece troubling the score board and it is hoped that we can get our fingers out or we face a howking from Selkirk this weekend.

The 2nds were always going to find Saturday tough against Heriots and so it was with Graig Goodfellow scoring Jed's only try in a 49 - 5 defeat.

Following Jason Gill’s decision to return home along with fellow Kiwi’s Kym Townsend and Nick Eagar and the retirement of local men Billy Graham, Pym MacDonnell, Kevin Amos and Robin Laing, Jed’s coaching staff felt there was a real need to fill in some key positions and the first replacement arrived last week in the shape of Kiwi number 8 Jon Dampney.

Jon is a 22 year old specialist number 8 from the Southern club where Jason Gill hailed from. He stands at 6ft 4 inches and weighs in at 16st and he was playing in Jason’s spot in the team while he was here. He has also played for Mid-Canterbury at representative level and had 7s trials as a youngster but work commitments curtailed his sevens chances. Jon is here until the end of the season but there is the option of another year if things are going well.

The second arrival came on Thursday when Argentinean Hooker David Torres landed, David is 29 and stands at 6ft and weighs 15st 6lbs. He has an Italian passport and indeed played in Italy for the Ragusa club in 2001-2002. He has represented his province for the last 11 years winning the championship at U18 level and at senior level in 2004. David was brought through the ranks at the famous Mendoza club and acted as Hooker/Prop coach for 2 years before playing for the Jockey Cub of Cordoba this season. David is also here for the season with the option of a second year.

Jed got out of jail on Saturday with a last minute try securing a 20 - 17 victory over Hillhead/Jordanhill. We were trailing 14 - 0 at half time and looking in real trouble. We were knocking on everything in the terrible conditions and playing the wrong game altogether.

Beige got torn into them at half time and it seemed to work. Michael Graham got us back into the game with a try from a rolling maul, them Mark Lee was the grateful recipient of a fumble by the stand off near his own line and he went over for a lucky try. The teams swapped penalties and we were trailing 17 - 13 with minutes to go. Then came our great escape. We were awarded a penalty and went for a scrum in the middle of the pitch on the 22. The ball was taken right and then switched left and a sweeping move saw Jamie McCraw slide in at the corner, and McGarva kicked the conversion to rub salt into Hills wounds.

The 2nds were not so fortunate, they lost out 21 - 17 to Stirling County at the Glebe. Jed's points came from tries by Aly Campbell and Frazer Mortimer, with Tom Elliot converting both and adding a penalty.

The 3rds played a friendly against their Kelso counterparts on Friday and emerged as 12 - 0 winners. Jed's scorers were Lindsay Dickson and Thomas Chapman, Robin Laing kicked a conversion.

Jed suffered one of their most humiliating defeats for years on Saturday in a 50 - 9 battering by Cartha Queens Park. Jed seemed to have everything against them on one horror day. Both coaches were unable to attend and with 4 late injury call offs with Hendy, David Grieve, Scott Macdonald and Simon Lightbody all unavailable it was always going to be tough and 3 more injuries to key men (Szkudro broken nose after 10 mins, Clark with knee injury just before half time & Goody chest injury so he switched to the wing as there were no more backs subs) during the game didn't help.

Cartha have a reputation of being very strong up front and that's where they really punished us. So much so that they scored 4 tries from line out drives and 2 from push over scrums and that's basically the whole story. Jed only points came from 3 McGarva penalties.

There are a lot excuses for Saturdays disaster but let's hope it's not becoming a bad trend. We can win away from home, I think!!

After this match was moved the Riverside after the floods in Hawick, a large crowd turned up to see Jed got down to a young Hawick team 15-12. Long wet grass and balls that resembled bars of soap and some refs decisions which confused both teams this match was hard fought but scrappy, disjointed and defensive affair. Hawick took a 15-6 lead into the break with 4 penalites and a drop goal with Nagle and Elliot replying for Jed. A further penalty from Elliot and then a drop goal from Hill closed the gap and although some late pressure on Hawick's line, the Jed team could not force any further points and where rightly disapointed in the end to come away with nothing.

A good hard effort again but the forwards aren't providing enough clean quick ball for our dangerous back line to operate, work to be done by the pack! Dav Grieve got a nasty head wound (seconds before being subbed!) Tattie Elder had a good first game back, Murray Brown and Cranny sparked life into the second half but stand out player again was Robert Ferguson.

Friday night's 2nd game has been switched to Riverside because of the terrible flooding in Hawick. Kick off is at 7.30pm.

What a difference a week makes. Jed produced one of their best performances for a while on Saturday in a 27 - 16 victory over league leaders Edinburgh Accies.

Jed totally dominated the first 25 minutes with Clark and Greg Laidlaw controlling possession with some great kicking. Greg kicked an early penalty then a great break by Clark and a neat pass to James Henderson gave him an easy run in for Jed's first try, Greg converted to give Jed a 10 - 0 lead. Greg then missed 2 penalties (1 in front of the posts) which would have given us a 16 - 0 lead but Accies kicked 2 penalties instead and the half time score was 10 - 6.

2 more Greg Laidlaw penalties and a nice try from a rumbling rolling maul by Accies which was converted saw Accies close to 16 - 13. They then drew level from another penalty and looked to be turning the screw but some great defence saw Jed hold several assaults on the line from another rolling maul. By now Greg had really found his kicking boots and he landed another nice long penalty. The cop was now in full cry putting pressure on every up and under from Jed and this saw the Accies full-back knock a ball on into the greatfull arms of Clark Laidlaw who raced clear to a huge roar and he fed Roy McFarlane on the inside to kill the Accies off. Greg Laidlaw then kicked another long range penalty to seal a great win for Jed.

This was a really good game of rugby played on a beautiful autumn day and with the crowd getting really involved at the end of the game it was a real pleasure to be there.

It's been a bad day for Jed today with both of our matches ending in big away defeats. The 1sts were defeated 33 - 17 by Haddington and the 2nds were beaten 23 - 5 by bottom of the table Biggar.

Jed started very well when Roy McFarlane went over in the corner after 90 seconds and we were competitive until 10 minutes from half time when ex Stirling County player Ian Noble charged down a Neil Smail clearance and collected the ball to score under the posts. This triggered a mini collapse and Haddington were playing down hill with the wind and they took full advantage and lead 23 - 8 at half time.

Things didn't improve much in the 2nd half and 3 McGarva penalties was all Jed could produce in a very disappointing display.

Neil Cook was the 2nds try scorer. Sorry I don't know any more at this point, look out for some match reports.

Most of you will be aware by now that we have spent a really busy summer renovating the Bar and Kitchen facilities here at Riverside.

Well it’s now time to give some thanks to everyone that made it all possible.

The Kitchen and Dining room were first at the beginning of August. The Kitchen has had a big sheet of stainless steel fixed to the wall behind the cooker and we must thank George Stenhouse & Son of Linton Smiddy for donating this. Angus Leitch cut and fitted the steel and he also tiled the rest of the kitchen, which bring us up to health and safety standards.

George and Andrew Wright have been very generous with their time and they painted the whole kitchen and dining area and their help is very much appreciated. The whole kitchen and dining room renovations cost less than £400 due to these peoples generosity.

The Bar area started a few days later and have been co-ordinated by Brian Hughes. Brian has done a tremendous job often working nights with the help of his partner Lisa, Ian Tunnah and Alistair Crocket in the clubrooms to get things finished.

The bulk of the work has been done by Joiners which were supplied by S,K,S Joinery. This was a very generous gesture by them and they have been very flexible, coming when and where we need them.

We must also thank Murray & Jackson Painters and Kevin Liddle Electrician for their work.

Jason Gill was playing his last home game for Jed on Saturday (he might sit on the bench this week as he has a work leaving do on Friday) after completing the 2 years he promised us and deciding not to renew his visa that expires on the 14^th of October.

Jason first came to Jed in late 2001 with Mark Fitzgerald for the season and they helped us gain promotion to premier division 1. Both of them were a huge success but had only planned on staying for that season and they returned home.

The lure of Jed proved too strong and both Jason & Mark returned for the 2003 – 2004 season. This time they were here for 2 seasons and both had girlfriends in tow. Things didn’t work out for Mark and he was soon on his way to Leicester. Jason and Kylie had settled down perfectly though, Jason working for John Laidlaw & Son Ltd as a scaffolder and Kylie in the office of L.S Starrett Co Ltd.

Jason has had a massive influence on the pitch scoring 9 tries in 16 games last season, 2^nd behind Davie Forster (16) and is leading this year with 4 tries in 4 games. He was also an ever present member of the sevens team that was third in last years Kings of the sevens which included wins at the Berwick and Kelso tournaments.

Jason and Kylie leave us on the 4th of October to go traveling before returning home in mid December where Jason is planning to set up his own scaffolding business. Their travels will take in trips to Canada, Prague, Amsterdam, a month long jeep safari from South Africa to Kenya and finally 2 weeks in Egypt.

Jason & Kylie wish to thank everyone at Jed-Forest and the whole community for their warm friendly hospitality during their time here, and they invite anyone from Jed to stay if they happen to be in New Zealand.

Everyone at Jed-Forest wish Jason and Kylie a very happy and successful future.

Jed moved up to 3rd in the league with a 39 - 7 victory against Gala yesterday. With Gala struggling with injuries (so much so, their 2nds game was off due to lack of front row cover) it looked like a game we could win. Maybe this was the reason for the slow start to the game and and Jed only had a 3 -0 lead after 30 minutes through a McGarva penalty. Jed then had James Henderson sin binned for stamping and this seemed to waken us up. We were piling on the pressure and a piece of brilliance saw Clark Laidlaw side step 4 Gala defenders for a great solo try. McGarva kicked the conversion and added a penalty to make it 13 - 0 at half time.

Hendy was next to score after returning to the pitch, he picked up from a Jason Gill drive and drove over from short range, McGarva added the conversion. Jed's next try was a penalty try converted by McGarva after Gala had pulled the maul down for the umpteenth time the ref lost patience and sin binned the offender. This really hurt Gala and their heads went down and Michael Graham drove over from a line out to give Jed another try again converted by McGarva. The bonus point was secure and some lax tackling allowed Gala a consolation try but Jed had the last word when sub Greg Laidlaw found a hole and just made the line for a fine try, McGarve missed the kick or it would have been 100% for him.

All in all a good win for Jed but let's hope Gala recover from their crisis, we don't want another borders team slipping down the leagues like Peebles.

The 2nds were beaten 39 - 0 by top of the league Boroughmuir. I've been promised a short report and I'll post it when it arrives.

Jed won their 3rd league game out of 4 this season when they beat Berwick 30 - 10 at Scremerston yesterday.

The game started brilliantly for Jed and Gary McGarva gave Jed the lead through a penalty after 6 minutes. Clark Laidlaw was next to score after a long kick by Jed had not been collected properly by Berwick, the ball was recycled and Clark waltzed through the Berwick defence, McGarva converted. The teams then swapped penalties but a high tackle by McGarva saw him being sin-binned just before half time. This gave Berwick a man advantage and they scored a converted try just before the break and the half time score was 10 - 13.

The second half saw Berwick get a man sin binned and Jason Gill took advantage scoring from a well worked back row move, McGarva converted and kicked 2 more penalties to give Jed a 23 - 10 lead. With the conditions worsening Jed managed 1 more try, a hack forward by James Henderson saw he and Chris (tattie) Shaw rampaging towards the line fighting for the touch down, a great bounce allowed Chris to dive and collect the ball for a nice touch down, again converted by McGarva. Jed tried to get the bonus point but 5 minutes was not enough.

So another fine win for Jed which takes us up to 3rd in the league and just as importantly no reported injuries.

The 2nds also had a great win, they beat Glasgow Hawks 2nds by 23 points to 20 up in Glasgow. Jed featured long term injury men Gary Hill and Neil Cook, plus Scott Laidlaw who suffered broken ribs in pre season and all 3 came through the whole match unscathed. Jed lead 11 - 6 at half time and Tom Elliot scored Jed's try. Jed tired badly in the last 10 minutes and allowed Hawks to get back in the game but Jed's 23 points were just enough.

Jed's other points had come from a drop goal each by Gary Hill and Greg Laidlaw, Greg also kicked 4 penalties in another outstanding performance.

Jed got back in the league hunt with a convincing 37 - 14 defeat of G.H.A on Saturday. Played in front of a very sparse crowd you could tell Jed had a better attitude than last week as there was a far better buzz amongst the players.

It was Jed who got of to the best start dominating set piece ball especially in the scrum, so much so that G.H.A made 2 changes in the forwards after 15 minutes. Clark Laidlaw started Jed's scoring with a drop goal after 10 minutes. Then Jason Gill barged over from close range after a line out, McGarva converted to give Jed a 10 - 0 half time lead.

The 2nd half saw Jed completely dominate until 10 minutes from time and tries from Nicky Bates, Gary McGarva and Gillys second (almost identical to his 1st) gave Jed the precious bonus point. McGarva converted all 4 tries and added 2 penalties to give him a 19 point total for the game.

Jed did let in 2 late tries which was a little worrying but to win with a bonus point will do me.

The 2nds also had a great win, beating G.H.A 2nds 26 -12 on Woodend. Jed's try scorers were Jamie McCraw, Tom Elliot and Robert Hogg, Greg Laidlaw kicked 3 penalties and 1 conversion.

Jed and G.H.A 2nds have climbed the leagues together in the last 2 years and the games have been very close encounters so this was a great win for Jed. This will be a very tough league and any victory will be a bonus.

Jed's good start to the season came to an abrupt end at Riverside yesterday in a disastrous late collapse against Dundee HSFP.

Dundee kicked an early penalty but Jed went into the lead through a Jason Gill try and a Greg Laidlaw penalty. In a scrappy game where no one really threatened Dundee did manage to square things up and it was 8 - 8 at half time.

Things stayed pretty much the same and it looked like a tense last 15 minutes were in store. Dundee had other ideas though and a rolling maul from a line out saw them rumble over and this seemed to deflate Jed. Two more converted tries soon followed and Dundee finished off as 29 - 8 winners.

It's G.H.A next week and let's hope that this was only a hiccup and not a sign of things to come.

The 3rd's who included a number of boys doubling up from Friday nights 2nd's match enjoyed a winning start to the season with a 20 - 17 victory over Eyemouth White Horses. Ryan Macafee was the unexpected hero of the day, playing in his 1st ever game of rugby he asked if he could take a shot at a conversion after a few misses earlier. Well he slotted the conversion and when the chance of a penalty came to win the match he was sure footed and over it went. He was not 100% perfect though. He was over the line for a try and show boating when he dropped the ball. Try scorers were Stuart (Muppet) Hall, Euan Kelly & Graeme Renwick.

The 2nds completed their preparations for life in the top league with a narrow 24 - 21 defeat at Selkirk last night. Coach Graeme (Pip) Renwick was still highly encouraged though, saying " there was a big improvement from last week with the forwards playing particularly well." He added a note of caution though as many of the boys tired towards the end of the game and he hopes fitness levels improve quickly.

Jed's try scorers were James Hogg, Tom Elliot & Scott MacDonald. Tom Elliot was once again flawless with the conversions, kicking all 3. Robert Ferguson was Jed's man of the match.

Jed reached the Semi Final of Selkirk 7s today at a blustery Philiphaugh. Jed saw of Duns who had to get some spare Selkirk payers in an easy 1st round tie. They then had an impressive 19 - 0 victory of local rivals Kelso with Clark Laidlaw showing the way. We then met our old foes The Royal Scots in the Semi. Although the 21 - 17 score suggests a close game it is flattering as we scored 2 very late tries when the Royal Scots looked to have eased off.

The Royal Scots went on to beat the Scottish Thistles 45 - 38 in the final and they look like a very strong force again with a blend of typical Fijian power, flicks and pace.

Jed got their league campaign of to a brilliant start with 39 - 5 win at Murrayfield Wanderers today.

After going behind early and John Szkudro limping off it did not look good but Gary McGarva eased Jed into the game with a penalty. Mark Lee (Szkudro's) replacement then scored Jed's 1st try, converted by McGarva, who then kicked another penalty to give Jed a 13 - 5 lead at half time.

The second half saw Murrayfield lose their Stand off and Prop (captain) to injury and that really affected them. This allowed Jed to take control and further tries from Neil Smail and Mark Lee (2) to complete a hat trick gave us a 5 try victory and a bonus point.

John Szkudro's injury was not serious and he came back on but Simon Lightbody has a dead leg and misses tomorrows Selkirk 7s.

The 2nds also had a good 28 - 5 win in a friendly against Berwick 2nds down at Scremerston. Jed's points came from tries by Colin Lyall, Scott MacDonald, James Hogg and Chris Shaw. Tom Elliot kicked all 4 conversions.

Jed's 1st squad came through a very positive per season friendly with Morpeth on Saturday with a 42 - 10 victory. Played in 3 stints the match gave the coaches a fine chance to give everyone a run out and try out some combinations. The most obvious bonus for everyone was seeing Mark Lee return to Riverside when he came on for the last 20 minutes. He was in try scoring action straight away when he was on Jason Gills shoulder to receive the ball for an easy run in and he returned the favour soon after when he sent Jason in. Their partnership should be very exciting till Jason goes home in early October.

Jed Start their league campaign on Saturday with a trip up to Edinburgh to face Murrayfield Wanderers, The seconds are going to Berwick for a friendly and it's Selkirk 7s on Sunday where Jed play Duns in the 1st round. As usual the draw is on the 7s page.

It's been a very short summer but the new rugby season gets under way on Saturday and Jed are in action on 2 fronts. The 1sts are at Kelso 7s and the 2nds are taking on Darlington at Riverside in a pre season friendly. The squad for Kelso is on the team news page but the 2nds squad is very much a work in progress and it's being used to give a good few of the 1sts some much needed match action.

Some of you have been asking for a summer update, well here is as much as I know and can remember. If any of you more or better please tell us on the forum.

Kevin Amos eventually retired at the end of last season and is coaching up at the Thistle, so did Billy Graham but hopefully that can be reversed. Brian MacDonnell has left to go back to one of the junior teams in Hawick. Kym Townsend has left to try his luck at working his way round Europe and fellow Kiwi Nick Eager has or is going home to join the police force. But perhaps the biggest blow has still come as Jason Gill has decided to go home in October to start a scaffolding business.

On the plus side Jason has helped us line a replacement number 8 who will arrive in October as he is currently playing N.P.C rugby at the moment. Roy McFarlane has rejoined the club after a brief spell at Berwick and Mark Lee is also almost certain to rejoin very soon. The squad has also been boosted by the arrival of Greg Nagle, Robert Hogg, and a couple more thistle boys (sorry boys don't know your names)

On the injury front Gary Hill and Neil Cook are still recovering from long term knee injuries, Neil Tunnah is also doubt full for most of the season with a back injury and Scott Laidlaw will be out for around a month with damaged ribs.

Some better news saw Greig Laidlaw take part in Scotlands last 3 games of the U21 world cup in Argentina. And Clark Laidlaw has joined the Scottish institute of sport where he will get specialist help as part of Scottish 7s squad.

On the coaching front, Calum Brown, Glen Gibson & Clark Laidlaw will coach the 1sts with Graeme (pip) Renwick & Ali McIlroy taking the 2nds.

The draw has been made for the Kelso 7s this weekend and Jed face Peebles in the 1st round. The tournament starts at 1:30pm and Jed will be just after 3:30pm. The full is on the 7s page as usual.