Two-nil and 89-22 aggregate points up from previous fixtures this season and with a slender, purely mathematical chance of winning the league, Musselburgh had to be the firm favourites for this Championship League B encounter and had to win it.

With very little rugby since New Year both sides had had time for injuries to heal but neither showed any signs of rustiness and from the outset every ball and move was hotly contested. Play followed previous form for the first forty minutes as the visitors took a 13-0 lead but then their hosts fought back.

Musselburgh kicked off on a mild for February, sunny afternoon with a damp but firm pitch and just an unusually moderate breeze from Rosewell at their backs.

Early territory forced a Lasswade error and O’Hagan slotted the three points with barely two minutes gone.

Territory was marginally in the visitor’s favour for the next quarter hour when from a breakdown near the home 22 Musselburgh shipped the ball quickly to wide left finding Cook with an overlap and the defending fullback could not halt his sprint into the corner.

Apart from a missed penalty and a well-worked break by Gladstone, Lasswade struggled to really threaten the Burgh line but solid and organised defending also kept them at bay. It needed a solo effort from Cook again to break through at half way and head for the corner to add another unconverted try with just four minutes of the half remaining.

0-13 looked like being the half time score as the clock ticked into stoppage time but when a Musselburgh pass missed the mark on half way Robertson gathered and broke through the first defenders. Gladstone was on hand to take it on and when challenged popped it back to Robertson charging up centre field. With the Burgh fullback closing in, Robertson spotted Wilson flying up the left touchline and found him with a near perfectly weighted cross kick that the winger had plenty of time to pick up and place over the line but too far out for the additional two points.

With the wind now in their favour Lasswade applied the pressure from the restart but with everybody committed to an assault in the visitors 22, a fumbled ball allowed Cook to counter attack and good support play used up the scrambling defenders and left Doig with an easy last 20 metres to the posts and O’Hagan had no problem making it 5-20 with 37 minutes still to play.

The hosts regrouped quickly though and with long clearances and charging runs from the likes of Brown, Robertson, Billingham and Hennessey up front, a spectacular individual counter by Hearn and several wide balls to the wings made sure that it was Musselburgh that had to do most of the defending.

As the hour came near Musselburgh were on the back foot in their 22 and discipline began to slip as the first of what was to be three yellow cards saw their New Zealander, Gahan sidelined for 10 minutes. A six metre lineout from the penalty set up a classic catch and drive, finished off by Lasswade’s man of the match, Robertson and the gap closed to 10 points.

With the Midlothian side clearly in the ascendancy now, Lasswade used another short range lineoout on the right to ship the ball through long miss passes to Quigley on the opposite wing to drive and spin into the corner and take his side within one converted try of victory.

With Gahan barely back on the park it was Fleming’s turn to take a rest as the referee lost patience with persistent failure to release the ball when tackled.

The home side kept up the pursuit of the winning score but Musselburgh seemed to be holding out until with just 3 minutes of normal time left another penalty set up a lineout ten metres out. Hearn caught it clean and the Lasswade maul was driving at pace for the line when Musselburgh’s Brown was seen by the referee pulling it down inside the five metre line and he had no hesitation in awarding a penalty (and bonus point) try. Lasswade’s captain Brown happily put his side ahead for the first time by the two-points from the conversion.

Musselburgh switched into catch-up mode for the few remaining minutes and made it close to the home 22. In their desperate haste they tapped rather than placed a kickable penalty and thereby threw away their main chance of recovering the game before no side was whistled.

This Saturday Lasswade travel to Peebles and will need the same grit and organisation against the only other club still challenging Howe of Fife for the League title. Kick-off 3pm.