There were scenes of celebration in the Borders at the weekend, as Ross High RFC secured promotion from East League Division 3.

The East Lothian club knew that a win over Gala YM on Saturday would secure their promotion – making amends for last year when they missed out on second place by just two points.

And the Ross High squad duly delivered a superb performance to secure the victory, meaning they are now guaranteed a top-two spot.

Promotion was secured with two matches still remaining – on the road to Queensferry and at home to third-placed Broughton, who are still unbeaten in the league and will be chasing down second-placed Gala YM as they have four games in hand on the Borderers, and three on Ross High.

Broughton remain favourites to join Ross High in East Division 2 next season, but the county club can wrap up the league title with victory over the Capital outfit on March 14.

Head coach Robert Baillie, who took over at the beginning of the season, said he was “over the moon”.

He told Courier Sport: “I’m absolutely delighted – credit to the players and we’re now at a stage where we can kick on.

“Winning the championship is now the target for us and we’ve got a massive game coming up against Broughton. If we win that then we’ll go up as league winners – nobody wants to go up having finished second.” Two seasons ago, the club finished bottom of East 2, having lost each of their 16 matches, but they regrouped last season and came close to promotion.

And Baillie, who hung up his boots in 2013, having been club captain, was delighted to see the turnaround.

He added: “I’ve played during some of the bad days and been on the end of the 100-0 defeats “None of the players have been involved in a promotion or a Bowl run like we’ve had this year, so I’ve been trying to encourage them to enjoy the good times, because it won’t always be good.

“I’m over the moon for them, though, they’ve worked really hard this year at training and they’ve been doing their own stuff away from the club, so it’s the reward they deserve.” Ross are on a run that has seen them lose just one match all season – a 22-12 reverse to Broughton last September.

And John Tinlin, who took over as presdient last summer and whose sons play for the 1st XV, was delighted with his first year at the helm.

He added: “It has been a fantastic first year as president – my heart and soul is in this club and I couldn’t have asked for a year better than this one. I knew it would be a hard act to follow Scott [Glynn], who put a lot of time into the club.

“There are exciting times ahead, a few young lads will move up from the Colts next year to add more strength to the squad – which is limited in numbers, but the buzz from the lads is amazing.” And he was keen to praise Baillie, who stepped in at the 11th hour following David Sumner’s departure for personal reasons.

He added: “Robert stepped in late into pre-season and he has focused the lads on rugby this year, like one big family, and the guys have a great chance of creating club history.” Ross High will hope to keep their winning run going tomorrow (Saturday) when they are on their travels once more, this time at Queensferry, before celebrating promotion at their Blawearie Road home on March 14.

And it may not be the only cause for celebration for the Tranent club. As it stands they are just one game away from an appearance at finals day at BT Murrayfield, with Ayrshire outfit Cumnock standing in their way in the semi-final of the Bowl.

Tinlin added: “We’ve been beaten semi-finalists in the old-style cup twice before, but we’re hoping to get past Cumnock in the semi-final next week.

“It would be a great achievement to see these lads run out onto the Murrayfield pitch.”