Seconds out – Selkirk move their sevens to the spring
SELKIRK have switched the date of their annual sevens tournament to the spring in an effort to combat dwindling spectator numbers and second-string teams.
Club president Donald Macleod confirmed the move this week, saying committee members had ditched any ideas about trying the event on a Saturday in August, instead of the usual Sunday, as there would have been problems persuading teams to come at the expense of their pre-season build up.
“We had found that teams were calling off or sending second-stream players to our sevens, even on a Sunday, a week before the leagues start,” Macleod explained.
“We have also noticed that the number of spectators coming to the sevens was falling, although our hospitality was still very successful.
“The only solution involved moving our sevens from August to the spring. We approached Jed-Forest and, following very constructive discussions, they agreed to move their sevens back one week and release their current Saturday for Selkirk.”
Selkirk informed the Border League and Kelso – as the latter’s tournament is the only other August sevens on the King of the Sevens circuit – before making any public statement.
As a result, the next Halbro Selkirk Sevens will be held on Saturday, May 7, 2011.
Meanwhile, it is cup rather than sevens business which will be occupying minds at Philiphaugh tomorrow with a second round clash against Stirling County at Bridgehaugh.
It is a game Macleod knows will be difficult.
“County have already secured promotion back to Premier One and will be focusing on the cup. It will be another extremely hard match for the players and the coaches will work hard to lift the boys for another big game,” said the president.
However, the cup match should at least provide some light relief for supporters still being forced to sweat it out over the Philiphaugh side’s stuttering league campaign.
Last weekend’s cracking 34-14 bonus-point win over fellow strugglers Watsonians lifted the Souters into ninth place in the top division, leap-frogging Edinburgh Accies in the process and putting eight clear points between themselves and the Myreside outfit.
But the Souters are not quite out of the woods just yet and need another victory in one of their remaining four league fixtures to ensure Premier One rugby continues at Philiphaugh next season.
Macleod told us: “Last Saturday’s fantastic four-try, five-point win against Watsonians has ensured we have a real prospect of playing Premier One rugby next season.
“Well done the players and coaches, and a huge thank-you to the huge crowd of supporters who fired up the team when things looked a little shaky in the third quarter of the match.”
Selkirk’s four tries came from Gavin Craig, Callum Johnston and two from Lee Jones.
Meanwhile, MacLeod says the club has looked into a recent incident in which referee Iain Heard abandoned a friendly between a Selkirk Stormers Select and Earlston because of verbal abuse from a spectator and a Selkirk player approximately 15 minutes from full-time.
“The club has fully investigated the incident and dealt with the situation,” MacLeod told us.
“We have also apologised to Iain Heard, the Border Referees Society and Earlston.
“There is an acute shortage of referees in the Borders and the last thing we need is for referees to be treated by players or spectators with anything other than the utmost respect.
“There would be no rugby without referees and refereeing is not easy – we need them.”
Selkirk: F. Harkness, S Hendrie, D. Cassidy, R. Nixon, L. Jones, G. Craig, M. McVie, G. Patterson, D. Grieve, R. Taylor, R. Aglen, S. Willet, N. Darling, C. Johnston, A. Renwick. Replacements: D. Clapperton, J. Smyth, S. Forrest, M. Murray, S. Tomlinson.
Referee: Iain Heard (Gala).
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Selkirk
Sunday 12 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 3 C to 8 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: North west
