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Ulster Veterans Miss Out At Melrose

Ulster Veterans Miss Out At Melrose

The Ulster Veterans, sponsored by Flybe, were defeated 15-5 by the Border Reivers in the final of the Melrose Tens tournament on Easter Saturday.

Border Reivers proved too strong for the Flybe-sponsored Ulster Veterans, defeating the Irish side 15-5 in the final of the Melrose Tens tournament played on Saturday and shown live on BBC Scotland.

The Ulster Vets had looked on course to retain their title after defeating Morgan FP and Melrose in the pool stages of the two-day competition and seeing off Edinburgh Accies in the semi-final.

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The competition got underway early on Friday and Ulster ran out clear winners against Morgan FP with a 39-5 six-try bonanza that saw scores from Barry Jackson, Stevie Harris, Gary Leslie and Ian Orr and a brace from Richard McIlmoyle.

The last game of the pool stages was a rematch of the 2008 final against Melrose and despite having Fijian legend Waisale Serevi in the squad, the host team were no match for Ulster who came out on top with a 26-7 win.

Mark ‘Big Show’ Blair touched down twice while Ian Orr and John Gunson also got on the scoresheet as the team eased comfortably towards the semi-final stage.

Ulster played their semi-final against the runners-up of Group 2, Edinburgh Accies, with a place in Saturday’s show-piece final at stake.

Ulster recorded another convincing result, defeating the Edinburgh side 38-5 with two scores from Michael Jackson and scores each from Blair, Barry Jackson, Maurice Field and McIImoyle.

However, the Borders proved too strong for Ulster in the decider. The province’s Vets still gave a credible performance, with their only try coming from Blair.