It was a superb win for the Tweedsiders, who brushed aside challenges from Hawick YM, Stewarts Melville and last year's runners-up Watsonians with some ease en route to the final.

The ground was far from packed, but a lively and vocal crowd made up for the lack of numbers on what was a clear, dry day at Poynder Park and, speaking as his side celebrated on the pitch, Kelso president Ewan Brewis said it had been a superb start to the sevens season and, of course, a great result for the local team.

He told us: "It's an absolutely fantastic result for the club. The boys improved so much at the end of last season and to get straight back into it at this stage in the season is fantastic. They played their hearts out. They're young and they're fit and I think they showed that today.

"I thought it all went very well. Everybody's a bit rusty at the first sevens of the season, but the rustiness disappeared by the semi-finals and I think everybody played well.

"It's always difficult attracting crowds at this time of year and there's so many other events on like the Olympics and Thirlestane, but we got lucky with the weather today and it was great to see people turning out."

There were no real shocks in the early rounds. With the 1st XV enjoying a friendly against West of Scotland, a young Gala sevens side lost out to Watsonians, while Stewart's Melville were the only other Edinburgh club to progress after beating capital rivals Edinburgh Accies 30-0.

Watsonians then made light work of Jed-Forest, who had been among the pre-tournament favourites, but were disappointing despite their win over Langholm.

Kelso looked strong from the start and destroyed Hawick YM 29-0 before dispatching Stew Mel in the second round with similar ease.

The really big scores came in the bottom half of the draw, with Hawick demolishing Earlston 62-0, while Melrose and Selkirk saw off Berwick and Haddington respectively by considerable margins.

In the absence of Hamilton, a President's Select team – looking not unlike Kelso 2nds – were the surprise hit of the first round, beating Peebles, much to the delight of the crowd, before losing out to Hawick.

It was a formidable line-up in the semi-finals, with it looking like a possible repeat of last year's final between Selkirk and Watsonians, but Kelso and Hawick had other ideas.

The Tweedsiders had the best of the Myreside club from the start with three converted tries in the first half giving them a 21-7 lead at the break.

Despite further tries from Jayden Thrush and Andrew Skeen – playing in his last sevens tournament before leaving for Amatori Milan this week – Watsonians couldn't come back as Kelso progressed to the final.

In the other semi-final – one of the highlights of the day – Hawick and Selkirk battled it out in a fast-paced, physical game that was evenly matched until late in the game when the Souters ran away with a two-try lead to steal the win.