Dunbar returned to Hallhill with a losing bonus point on Saturday evening, after pushing league leaders Berwick to the wire at Scremerston.

The visitors were without Sandy Thomson in the backs, while Andrew Wightman and Chris Baikie were missing among the pack, meaning head coach Callum Low was forced to name himself on the bench, alongside Steve Bisset and the returning Ally Brown.

The early stages were evenly contested, but the home side opened the scoring on 12 minutes with a penalty to make it 3-0.

Dunbar hit back almost immediately, though, as a well-worked move saw skipper Kyle Donnellan go over after quarter of an hour.

Ross Charlton, wearing the number 10 jersey, was wide with the conversion, but the visitors held a 3-5 lead as the match entered its second quarter.

The home side then had an extended period of pressure and were awarded several kickable penalties, but turned down the points in favour of the lineout.

And after several drives were repelled by the visitors, the Berwick forwards did get over, only to be held up over the try line.

However, eventually the home side went over for their first try of the afternoon, from the resulting scrum. The conversion was successful and Dunbar trailed 10-5.

There was still time in the first half for Dylan Moffat to be shown a yellow card by the referee, but the scoreline remained the same and the county side were well in the match after an encouraging opening 40 minutes.

Low’s troops got off to a poor start in the second half, however, allowing Berwick a third penalty attempt within a minute of the resumption and this time the kick was good, to make it 13-5.

Ally Brown made his return as he replaced Arthur Sinclair, while head coach Low replaced Chris Greco on 47 minutes, and the changes had an immediate impact.

Antoin Penrose kicked through, and the ball was worked through the hands from Gary Peebles to Brown, with the winger sneaking over in the corner.

Charlton’s conversion was wide of the mark, but Dunbar were right back in the match, 13-10 down.

Much as Moffat had in the first half, captain Donnellan was the next man to fall foul of the referee, as the number eight spent 10 minutes in the sin bin following a professional foul.

And the home side made the most of their numerical advantage to grab the game’s decisive score with just under 10 minutes to go, while the conversion meant Dunbar needed a try to get anything from the match, 23-10 down.

Gary Peebles and Jamie Peters were both denied late on, before veteran centre Peters managed to force his way over following a good Dunbar scrum.

Charlton added the all-important conversion from in front of the posts and secured the losing bonus point for Dunbar.

The county club’s attentions will now turn to avenging defeat to Duns earlier in the season, as they welcome the Borders outfit to Hallhill tomorrow (Saturday).

Dunbar: A Sinclair, A Penrose, G Peebles, J Peters, Kieran Donnellan; R Charlton, B Mills; C Greco, C Bryce, R Gallacher, C McLellan, D Moffat, K Courtney, G Patrizio, Kyle Donnellan.