HERIOT’S 23 CURRIE CHIEFTAINS 27
Currie Chieftains coach Ben Cairns was not entirely satisfied with the performance, but he was delighted with a result that keeps his side on track for the play-offs.
Chieftains displayed plenty of determination to battle back and snatch a late win against a Heriot’s team that has won two tight games already this season.
“I thought we made a lot of mistakes but then so did Heriot’s,” said Cairns. “It’s nice to come out on top. There won’t be many games away from home when we make that amount of errors and still come out on top.”
His Heriot’s counterpart, Phil Smith, was disappointed that his players had failed to see out a game in which they led entering the final minute.
“That was a game that we definitely lost because we were in the lead with control at the point when we needed to be,” he said. “We made two really bad decisions, so that’s the frustrating bit. We made a bad call at the lineout then a bad call in open play.”
A match that has a history of close finishes did not disappoint on this occasion. Thomas Gordon raced in for an early try, converted by Gregor Hunter, who closed the firsthalf scoring with a penalty. In between, Ross Jones had booted two penalties and added the extra two points after Jack Mcclean touched down, leaving the home side 13-10 ahead at the interval. Jones extended Heriot’s advantage with another penalty but a six-point lead became a narrow deficit when Chieftains captain Robbie Nelson powered his way over and Hunter converted before adding three more with a penalty.
The match swung back in favour of the home side when scrum-half Andrew Simmers capped a spell of pressure when he dived over for a clever try. Jones was on target with the conversion to establish a three-point advantage that the Goldenacre men still held as the game ticked towards the 80th minute.
However,, a thrilling encounter had one final twist as Nelson raced in for his second touchdown and Hunter converted to clinch victory.