A red card for captain Adam Macnair was to prove the turning point as North Berwick suffered defeat to East League 1 leaders Dalkeith on Saturday.

The home side went into the match unbeaten, and with the county club just one place behnind it was sure to be a closely fought contest between two of the promotion favourites.

Rhodri Thomas was without centre Cal Mark, hooker Bhrian Buchannan and No 8 Jamie Dove, but was able to hand recalls to Ben Inglis, Grant Black and Gus Elder.

And the county side came straight out of the blocks, with Jonny Riddell and Reece Patterson to the fore. Their reward was two penalties, both kicked by returning stand-off Liam West to give the visitors a 0-6 lead inside the opening quarter.

Dalkeith struck back with a penalty of their own before that man West was again involved, as he cut his way through the Dalkeith defence to score the opening try. His subsequent conversion meant that the young number 10 had amassed 13 points inside the first half an hour and given the visitors a 10-point cushion at 3-13.

Solid North Berwick defence made sure that Dalkeith, who looked dangerous with ball in hand, made limited progress, with Riddell again instrumental in cutting down runners.

With North Berwick more than holding their own against the league leaders, Macnair was deemed to have been reckless with his footwork at a ruck and was duly shown a red card.

The home side reduced the arrears to 6-13 and Iain Dove was then summoned from the bench, the big second row on for Jamie Armstrong in the North Berwick pack to account for the dismissal of their captain.

North Berwick were able to hold on until half-time with a seven-point lead at the break but early in the second half, and with pressure mounting, the hosts kicked a brace of penalties to further cut the gap, 12-13.

North Berwick were now really under pressure, but escaped danger with some magnificent covering tackles, resisting wave after wave of Dalkeith attack. They kept clearing their lines through fine cover tackling and resisting wave after wave of pressure.

With a penalty try on the cards, the home side worked the ball wide and they took the lead for the first time at 19-16. Thomas’ side tried to work a position for West to kick a penalty, or drop goal that would have sealed a remarkable victory, but it was not to be as Dalkeith added a late three-pointer of their own to clinch victory and maintain their unbeaten start.

Although they are likely to be without suspended captain Macnair, North Berwick will be heartened by their performance and will hope to return to winning ways as they take on Portobello at Recreation Park tomorrow (Saturday).

North Berwick: G Walker, G Fairgrieve, K Hamilton, A Elder, M West; L West, G Spence; R Patterson, G Black, A Gallacher, A Macnair, M Sanderson, J Riddell, J Armstrong, B Inglis.