Club rugby wrap: Currie short of intensity, woe for Heriot's

Currie skipper Ross Weston has admitted that a step up in intensity and consistency will be required if they are to break their BT Premiership duck when they travel to meet Melrose this weekend.

Fergus Scott and Hamish Bain fail to stop Galas Matt Carryer in a 28-23 defeat at Malleny Park. Picture: Ian Georgeson

Having lost at Ayr on the opening day of the season, Weston and his colleagues were on the wrong end of a 28-23 scoreline at home to Gala and, frustratingly for the captain, there was a repeat of the high error count that contributed to the loss seven days earlier.

Moreover, it was only in the closing stages that Currie clicked into gear. That brief spell in the ascendancy produced two late tries and set up a frantic finale, but it came too late for the home side to overturn the damage that had been done earlier in the game.

Now Weston wants to see Currie continue to develop in training this week and offer a more complete performance against the in-form Borderers at the Greenyards.

“We finished really well but you are never going to win games if you only play for ten minutes out of 80. All credit to Gala, they were very good in the first 60-65 minutes and then we came into the game in the last ten minutes or so. “There was definitely an improvement from the week before and I have said to the boys that we need to improve again on Tuesday, improve on Thursday then take it into Saturday and keep trying to build a wee bit of momentum.

“I know the quality of players we have, we can score when we get the opportunities. It’s just about holding on to the ball. For the first 60 minutes we just didn’t hold the ball well enough.

Watsonians made it two wins from two when they saw off Hawick 24-9 at Mansfield Park. Next up for Marcus Di Rollo’s side will be a clash at home to near neighbours Boroughmuir, who produced an outstanding effort in the second half to overhaul Stirling County and post a 35-28 win.

Heriot’s had to settle for a second successive narrow defeat bonus point in a keenly contested match at home to Ayr. The manner of the loss was particularly painful for the Goldenacre side who were 18-16 ahead going in to the final minute before Ayr scored a converted try to win 23-18 in a reprise of last season’s Premiership grand final.