Second-half revival a relief for Heriot’s
The second half of this Edinburgh derby unfolded pretty much as a mirror image of the opening 40 minutes and ended with Heriot’s overturning a 21-point deficit to chalk up a bonus-point win.
Admitting that there was concern among the Goldenacre contingent at the interval, Heriot’s coach Phil Smith said, “You’re panicking because you are 24-3 down, obviously, but I did feel some of it was actually good in the first half, although we defended poorly. So, we tightened up defensively, got to grips with what they were doing and got field position”.
And that approach paid off as Heriot’s pounded the Boroughmuir line and methodically nibbled into the deficit before striking the killer blow through captain Iain Wilson.
The hosts had dominated the first half, with tries from Callum Atkinson, Greg Cannie and Will Wardlaw, all converted by Robin Weersmna, who had opened the scoring with a third-minute penalty.
Ross Jones bagged the only Heriot’s points of the first 40 with a penalty, but his flawless kicking after the restart was a vital part of the fightback.
The recovery started with a try by Jack Blain, who was joined on the scoresheet by Michael Liness and Dougie Steele, with Jones landing all three conversions to leave the teams tied on 66 minutes. Wilson nicked the win and fourtry bonus with a late touchdown, converted by Jones.
Boroughmuir coach Peter Wright was furious at the second-half capitulation by his men, saying, “We were our own worst enemies. We didn’t manage the game at all in the second half. That gave Heriot’s a bit of impetus and they took the opportunity to score four tries. We have nobody to blame but ourselves.”