Published: Thursday, 9th April, 2009 4:00am

Depleted NB side defeated

Duns 31 v 0 North Berwick

With commitments to fulfil at Haddington Sevens, it was a much changed 1st XV that travelled to Duns for this last league game of the season.

Making their first team debuts were Stuart Lowe, Zak Hegarty and Nick Hammond, and with Phil Holme, Ryan Duncanson and Euan Grubb on the bench.

Half a dozen sixth-form players were in Saturday"s squad.

Playing up the slope and with the wind and rain in their faces, NB were soon struggling to cope with the bigger and more physical Duns team.

Two quick tries were conceded before play settled down, but despite the efforts of Lee Inglis, Mike Bonnington, Alan Gallacher and Iain Dove, who all took turns to carry the ball, NB just could not get out of their own half.

Some valiant defending kept Duns at bay but eventually the dam broke and a further two tries were conceded towards the end of the half, bringing the score to 0-24 in Duns" favour.

NB started the 2nd half with optimism, and with Lowe winning ball on the deck, were soon looking to get the ball downfield.

Unfortunately, a couple of kicks were pushed dead by the strong wind and this brought play back to the NB half.

From one of these, a lapse in defensive concentration allowed Duns to score a try against the run of play, bringing the score to 0-31.

Holme replaced Ben Lowe at scrum-half and Cockburn came on for Inglis to try and bring a freshness to the tiring squad. NB spent the final quarter pressurising the Duns line - Dove came close, but alas there was to be no scoring.

This defeat means NB finish the season in fourth position in the league. Had NB travelled at full strength they may have secured third spot.