Musselburgh 48 Falkirk 15

MUSSELBURGH moved out of the National 1 relegation places with a bonus-point win over Falkirk at Stoneyhill on Saturday.

Grant Talac’s side had the extra point secured inside the opening 40 minutes with a dominant display against the league’s bottom side.

An equally impressive performance after the break put gloss on the scoreline as Burgh leapfrogged Stewart’s Melville and moved out of the bottom two.

Scrum-half Danny Owenson finished with a 23-point haul from two tries, five conversions and a penalty in an impeccable display.

The opening try was not long in coming, captain Willie Fleming on hand to touch down from a powerful maul.

Owenson converted and added a penalty to give Burgh a 10-0 lead.

The Musselburgh scrum-half then crossed for their second try and converted to give the hosts a comfortable cushion, which grew further as Rory Watt went over.

Owenson converted again, giving the home side a 24-point advantage as half-time neared.

And Burgh’s bonus point score came when Cory Vela crossed after an excellent team move.

This time the conversion was wide and Falkirk got some reward for their first-half efforts when stand-off Faulds crossed for their first try.

Burgh led 29-5 at the break and things only got better for Talac’s men in the second half.

Danny Owenson scored his second try of the game almost immediately after the resumption, converting his own score before adding the extras to Ruaridh Young’s superb solo effort in the 52nd minute.

Falkirk, who included ex-Burgh man Marko Mladenovic among their ranks, battled hard and pulled a try back when back-row Howie dived over.

And their influence on proceedings grew further when they scored a third try just after the hour, Faulds again the man to cross.

Despite another heavy defeat looming, 43-15 down, Falkirk were now hunting a try bonus point. In the final quarter they gave it everything and had the lion’s share of possession as Burgh tried to fend off the possibility of a fourth try.

Three minutes from the end the home backs clicked into gear and put replacement Moffitt over in the corner for an unconverted try to seal victory.

Burgh have no game this weekend but are in BT National League Cup action next Saturday as they take on GHA in Glasgow.

Musselburgh: R Young, J Coutts, B Hibberd, R Watt, C Vela; G Pritchard, D Owenson; C Owenson, C Slaven, C Arthur, W Fleming, G McKinstry, C Pryde, J Crain, B Graham.