Heriot's have destiny in own hands after defeating Currie

Heriot's coach Phil Smith knows there is still work to do as his men enter the home straight in the BT Premiership, with a play-off spot firmly in their sights after beating Currie 25-17 at Goldenacre.

Struan Cessford scores Heriot's opening try

But he is happy that Heriot’s now have control of their own destiny after moving into fourth spot at the expense of Currie. “The difference is that it is now in our hands. Neither of us has an easy run in, there is so much happening, which is great,” he said.

The teams served up an intense encounter in which the win appeared to be heading the way of Heriot’s when Rory Carmichael touched down for his team’s third try, adding to earlier scores by Struan Cessford and Andrew Simmers, plus ten points from the boot of Alex Hagart.

However, Currie, who had opened the scoring with a Jamie Forbes penalty and battled back into the game with a Ross Weston try just before the break, had other thoughts. A converted penalty try after 65 minutes set up a stirring conclusion to the encounter.

But a string of errors and wrong decisions ensured that the hosts were able to see out the game and secure the victory that enhances their hopes of retaining the title. It also enabled Heriot’s to have their name inscribed on the Bill McLaren Shield, becoming only the second club to achieve that honour.

For Currie coach Ben Cairns, the outcome was frustrating. “We were in a position with 20 minutes to go, we’ve got the momentum, we’ve got a chance to get back in that game and make it a real fight to the end, but we shoot ourselves in the foot with, I reckon, nine individual errors. It was just really silly, poor decision making.”

Meanwhile, Watsonians took a massive step towards securing their survival in the top flight – and mathematically could yet secure a play-off place – when they beat Gala 40-3. DJ Innes, Scott McKean, Keith Young, Villiami Fihaki and Reiss Cullen all scored tries for the Myreside men.

Boroughmuir face a battle to avoid the bottom two after a 42-19 loss at Ayr. Jordan Edmunds notched a try double and Matt Walker also dotted down, but Muir returned empty handed and sit third from the foot of the table with three difficult matches to round off their programme.