Currie Chieftains have one foot in the Premiership play-offs after blistering start
The result is a significant step along the road towards the league play-offs, and it will now take a major loss of form and a run of unlikely results to prevent Chieftains securing a top four finish in the regular season.
The Malleny Park side went into the match with a five-point cushion at the top of the table and buoyed by a run of nine successive victories, including a comprehensive success over the Ayrshire outfit in the reverse fixture earlier in the campaign.
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Hide AdChieftains outplayed their opponents in the early stages. They had secured the four try bonus point and appeared to have the game won by half time, which they reached with a 27-7 lead. Sean Fisher set the scoreboard ticking with the first of the five Chieftains touchdowns. The hooker was joined on the scoresheet by Joe Reynolds, James McCaig and Rhys Davies, with the reliable boot of Gregor Hunter adding two conversions and a penalty, while the hosts bagged a converted try shortly before the break to give them some hope.
However, a second touchdown by McCaig extended the lead and ensured the game was won before a fightback by Marr yielded three further tries and a bonus that means the deficit on Chieftains has stretched to nine points with seven matches left before the top quartet play off for the silverware. And, with the lead over fifth-placed Glasgow Hawks now a substantial 21 points, three more victories will guarantee Chieftains a spot in the knockout phase.
“We said it didn’t matter if we were playing into the wind or against the wind, just get out the blocks quick”, said Cairns, who believes that there is still more to come from his side. “We’re striving for that 80-minute performance, but it does become difficult when you get so far ahead to keep focus and to keep the structure which got you there in the first place.”