Broughton staged the late, late show on Saturday as North Berwick snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by gifting Broughton the win by a last minute lack of discipline.

Broughton played away from the Clubhouse at a windy as ever North Berwick in the shadow of the North Berwick Law in the 1st half and it was an early opportunity for the home side to take the lead after the referee penalised Broughton's Matthews for being in an offside position.  The kick was pulled wide and Broughton breathed a collective sigh of relief.

As the early exchanges saw both teams try to work out the conditions, Broughton were awarded a 10th minute penalty for the North Berwick forwards not rolling away at the ruck.  Maddocks set himself up for the kick on the 22 but as he made his move to kick, a North Berwick forward attempted to charged down the kick!  The re-take saw Maddocks slot the ball between the posts. 0-3.

North Berwick came back with their backs on fire, forcing Broughton to concede three consecutive penalties.  As the Broughton defence held strong, the home side opted for a 5 metre scrum but they were frustrated by losing the scrum against the head.

Nicolson and Wells set up another drive against North Berwick

The pressure was still intense and when Fragne was caught out by a probing kick and then found himself isolated inside his 22, 3 points seemed on a plate.  Instead, for the second time in as many minutes, they opted for a scrum which, once again, came to nothing.

The hosts didn't need to wait too long before they got on the board and the pacey Full Back set up a great back line move for a score in the corner. 5-3.

Broughton stole back their lead on the 25th minute when Maddocks took advantage of a penalty conceded by North Berwick for handling in the ruck. 5-6.

The lead changed hands once again on the half hour mark when Maddocks attempted to clear from hand in his 22, but this was charged down for a North Berwick back to go over for a score.  The conversion was wide and at half-time, the score remained at 10-6.

It should have been try number 3 for the home side from the restart when the North Berwick backs went on the rampage and it was only a Salmon-like leap from Matthews which prevented a clear score and the big centre cleared the danger.

Broughton's plight was made worsened when Fragne was sin-binned for a case of handbags on the 44th minute.

Two wide of the posts penalties were trading shortly afterwards but on the hour mark, it looked like North Berwick were on their way to the 4 Championship points with another try.  15-6 and with 20 minutes to go, the writing appeared on the wall for the Edinburgh outfit and any thoughts of a title challenge, even at this stage of the season, looked in doubt.

With 10 minutes to go, a comeback of Herculean proportions was looking more of a possibility when Broughton's pack took control of the game and a rampaging 22 metre rolling maul brought the tourists up to the line and O'Neill had the easiest of opportunities to score by falling over the line.  Maddocks kicked the extras and at 15-13, it was definately game on!

A well-worked Broughton back move almost saw the comeback complete with Keenan taking the ball from his own half, skipping past the attentions of the North Berwick defence.  He brought Matthews into the move and a quick pass out Beaton on the wing saw the centre edge close to the try line before being bundled into touch 5 metres out.

The 16-15 win appeared unlikely as the game drifted into deep injury time. 

However, as Broughton Full-Back and Birthday Boy Jerry Harper hoofed a giant kick from his 22 to set up a final assault on the North Berwick defence, he was crudely taken out late and the match official awarded Broughton a penalty where the ball landed, some 25 metres out and left of the posts.

This was within kicking distance of Man of the Match Olly Maddocks and the Welsh Stand-Off slotted the ball over the bar to complete the Broughton comeback.

Next week we make the short journey to Leith and a tough & bruising encounter is guaranteed.  Your support is vital.

After the game, why not join the Team at Clark's Bar - The 2007/08 Main Sponsor for the crucial Scotland v Italy World Cup tie at 8pm?