Heriot’s sluggish start to season continues

● Error-strewn showing from the champions ends in defeat as Ayr seal win late on

Last season’s champions were beaten by last season’s runners-up as Heriot’s lost for the second Saturday in a row and Ayr made it two out of two, writes William Dick.

A late try by scrum half David Armstrong nudged the visitors ahead just as a tight match wound down to its last few frantic seconds and Heriot’s, as they have done so often in the past, just couldn’t find a way back.

Ayr coach Calum Forrester said: “The biggest positive out of that was how poorly we played today and still came away with a win. We had to dig deep but we put ourselves in that situation with our discipline in the first half and always being on the back foot. We are better than that.”

Ayr, with only a few new faces in their ranks, have found early momentum but Heriot’s are misfiring at the start of this year’s campaign having lost a clutch of experienced players who were the core of the Premiership-winning team. They were soundly beaten by Watsonians on the league’s opening weekend, and now by Ayr, but coach Phil Smith isn’t panicking yet.

“Compared to last week this was a step up in performance,” he said. “There were a lot of mistakes but there was also a lot of good play.”

0 Heriot’s Cornell Du Preez tackles Ayr’s Jamie Bova during Saturday’s match at Goldenacre.

Heriot’s started well with two penalties in the first 20 minutes by Alex Hagart, the second earning Ayr full-back Grant Anderson a yellow card when he blatantly killed the ball at a ruck in front of the posts.

Ayr profited from a penalty by Frazier Climo and Anderson was restored to the pitch before the first try of the game as Heriot’s centre John Semple tried to spread the ball wide only to see Ayr winger Craig Gossman intercept it and run in from 40 metres. Climo converted.

Heriot’s responded with a try of their own, full back Gavin Parker dotting down in the corner with Semple making the scoring pass. Hagart’s conversion attempt slid wide to make the half-time score 11-10. Edinburgh’s South African pro Cornell Du Preez, returning from a bad ankle injury, joined Heriot’s back row after the break but it was Ayr who took back the lead with two Climo penalties.

The best move of the match was then set in motion by du Preez popping up a loose ball in midfield which then passed slickly through several pairs of hands to create the space for Hagart to swerve round the defence and score. He converted his own try to regain the lead.

The mistakes multiplied in the final quarter as legs tired but minds stayed alert enough to seize the chance when it came. Two minutes from the end Ayr openside flanker Will Bordill barrelled through a couple of tackles to carry deep into the Heriot’s 22, the ball was recycled for loosehead prop George Hunter to make important yards, before Armstrong scooped it up and skipped over retreating defenders for the try that made the difference. Climo’s conversion was on target but unnecessary as time was up.

CURRIE GALA

HAWICK 23 28

Opeta Palepoi was forced to watch a tense finale from the touchline after a recurrence of a troublesome knee injury. But the veteran lock-turned-coach forgot the pain as his Gala side secured their first win of the campaign, writes Colin Renton.

The Borderers were impressive in attack, with Gregor Hunter calling the shots at stand-off in a back division bristling with pace in the shape of wingers Craig Robertson and Ross Combe, as well as full-back Graham Speirs, whose acceleration created the bonus-point try.

However, Palepoi preferred to focus on a gutsy secondhalf effort when Gala were on

9 24

Watsonians proved too strong in the final stages at Mansfield Park on Saturday to overcome a gritty Hawick performance, writes Atholl Innes.

Craig Borthwick, one of four ex-gala players in the Watsonians team, agreed that it had been a hard contest.

“We made a lot of mistakes in the early stages against a stuffy Hawick side, but we eventually kicked into gear,” he said.

Watsonians fell short of a trybonus point. “We had to keep working on what we had done in training and hope it would come in the end, and thankfully it did for us,” added Borthwick.

Hawick coach, Nikki Walker, felt his players fell just short of their first victory of the season. the rack but repelled a string of Currie attacks – ultimately the key to the victory.

“Last week was a learning curve but we came out this week and put it right”, said Palepoi. “I was really impressed with our defence. Defence won us the match.”

Tries from Robertson and Combe plus a conversion and two penalties by Hunter left Gala 18-6 up at half-time, Graeme Clow booting two penalties for Currie.

A converted Hamish Bain touchdown gave Currie hope but a second try from Robertson and the bonus-point score from Josh Irvine left Gala in command with 20 minutes left. Currie finally breached the defence in the final minute when Mathew Hooks dotted down. That was followed by a Camerongraytrythatsecured the narrow defeat bonus. “We showed a lot of desire and heart. We are a young side and did well against a muscular team,” he said.

“We are disappointed, but feel that our first win is not that far away. We need to find a bit of consistency and stay in the game a bit longer. We need to get that win quickly to give the guys confidence.”

Watsonians scored an early try through Nathan Borrel, converted by Andrew Chalmers. But two penalties by Ali Weir, who later went off injured, and a third after the interval gave Hawick a 9-7 lead.

However, even with Sean Crombieinthesin-bin,watsonians weathered the home storm and tries by Villami Fihaki and Ewan Scott, who also converted two and kicked a penalty, sealed an important victory.