Belying their current joint bottom place in the League Stewart's Melville looked nothing like relegation candidates as they most deservedly took the spoils by defeating Falkirk in a very keenly contested League encounter at Sunnyside last weekend.

Although Falkirk knuckled down and competed well in drawing level at half time the College side were clearly the more organised and better side and went about their business very efficiently indeed. Getting off the best possible of starts the Edinburgh side looked ominous as they drove Falkirk back into their 22 metre area,and following a series of probing attacks Outside-Centre Jack Hannay broke over for an unconverted try in the opening minute.

However Falkirk countered some twelve minutes later when Right-Winger Jacob Adamson made an incisive break from half way before kicking ahead and winning the race for the touchdown,with Stand-Off Liam Brims duly adding the conversion,but regrettably for the home side Scrum-Half Angus Rennie was yellow carded for an off-the-ball incident after the try had been scored. Three minutes into the second quarter of the match Stew./ Mell. retook the lead when their pack of forwards paved the way with a series of rucks and mauls, deep inside Falkirk's last quarter of the pitch,for Stand-Off Andrew Warnock to take control and break through for a well taken try which Inside-Centre Euan Morrison converted.

Brims then went on to convert a penalty for Falkirk in the 29th minute but the visitors responded just two minutes later when their Captain and Open Side Flanker Duncan Wood exposed some woeful Falkirk defending as he charged over for an unconverted try from just inside Falkirk's 22 metre line. No doubt at all stung by that Falkirk retaliated well in the closing minute,when after pressurising on the College side's five metre line Number 8 Jake Eaglesham barged over from a ruck for Falkirk's second try with Brims adding the two points for a Half time score of Falkirk 17 Stewart's Melville F.P.17.

Alas for the home side,after doing well in squaring the match,they let themselves down very badly in their defensive chores when Warnock was allowed to ghost his way through some slack tackles,from approximately fifteen metres out,to dot the ball down just to the right of Falkirk's uprights,before converting his own try in the 43rd minute. Very shortly afterwards Brims countered with a further penalty conversion for Falkirk,but yet again they compounded matters when Stewart McCulloch was yellow carded some six minutes later. Morrison converted another penalty for the Capital City side just into the last quarter as Falkirk desperately tried to at least draw the encounter with some determined phases of play,and although S.M. lost the services of their Lock-Forward Gareth Henderson for ten minutes when he was yellow carded in the 65th minute, and despite further gallant efforts from Falkirk the College side hung on for a worthy victory.

Falkirk Side 1.Keith Slade 2.Andrew Gillespie 3.Lewis Skinner[Capt.] 4.David Stoddart 5.Craig Hamilton 6.Angus Inwood 7.Andrew McNab 8.Jake Eaglesham 9.Angus Rennie 10.Liam Brims 11.Kyle Rowe 12.Andrew Hamilton 13.Connor Faulds 14.Jacob Adamson 15.Craig Robertson Subs.16.Andrew Simpson 17.John McKenna 18.Stewart McCulloch 19.Harry Russell 20.Martin Hall. This Week Falkirk entertain currently joint bottom of the table side Howe of Fife at Sunnyside,kick-off is at 2.00 p.m.