Having seen his men suffer a late blow in going down against Ayr, followed by an under-par effort in losing away to West of Scotland, Breckenridge wanted a positive reaction from his men.
They duly delivered with five tries against spirited visito
rs who showed that their position in the top half of the league table is well merited.
Afterwards, Breckenridge declared himself satisfied with the manner of their reaction to recent setbacks. He said: "It was very important for us to get a win first of all. Getting all five points is a bonus. We needed to get back on track and we've done that. There was a wee bit of fire in the bellies and the boys desperately wanted to win."
After halting a Selkirk side that lay third in the table before kick off and which again drew praise for their refreshingly open style of play, Breckenridge insisted there is still more to come from his team.
He said: "We'll take the win and the five points but there is still a lot to work on, such as areas of breakdown, set piece and just game management."
He was also honest enough to admit to an element of luck, as the home side profited from several moments of carelessness among the Selkirk players to plunder tries at crucial stages of the game.
While the Heriot's forwards grafted against a visiting pack that combined youth with experience and, as anticipated by the hosts, battled throughout the match, it was the backs who bagged the tries that yielded the league points to move Heriot's up to fifth place.
The first came after 19 minutes when full back Colin Goudie broke from his own half, chipped ahead then won the race to the try line to open the scoring. Graham Wilson added the conversion, although he was off target with his next attempt after Goudie had turned creator to send Greig Rutherford in for number two.
Selkirk have a well deserved reputation for reacting positively after conceding points, and they lived up to it again when skipper Neil Darling plunged over and David Cassidy converted.
That sparked a spell on the defensive for the hosts and after the Borderers had spurned one scoring opportunity they gifted the next score to Heriot's when a spilled pass just metres short fell to Stuart Bell.
The former Edinburgh University and Madras winger, making his home debut, booted the ball clear and a length of the field sprint plus three dribbles later, he touched down for try number three. Wilson's conversion gave the scoreboard a flattering gloss with the hosts, who ended the half a man short after Innes Brown was yellow carded, turning round with a 19-7 lead.
A disallowed try for the visitors gave Heriot's a reprieve soon after, and there was an element of dubiety over the bonus point score by Michael Short, who appeared to be in touch.
Any danger of complacency in the home ranks was erased when Fraser Harkness hauled the Philiphaugh men back into the game with a converted try.
A further wave of attacks left Breckenridge looking nervous and he admitted as much later. He said: "We know that Selkirk are a team that will play for 85 minutes and we knew that if we gave them a sniff of opportunities they would take them.
"They play for their town, they are a proud side and they put in a really gutsy performance."
Despite the scare, when Bell latched onto a diagonal kick from Wilson and dotted down in the corner the win was safe, and a late, converted touchdown by Michael McVie proved only a consolation score.
Saturday brings a Capital derby with Boroughmuir, and Breckenridge is adamant that his players will not be allowed to enjoy their success too much.
He said: "There is a lot of competition at the club for places and that can only be good, because the guys know there are others waiting in the wings to take their opportunity."
Scorers:
Heriot's: Tries: Goudie, Rutherford, Bell (2), Short; Cons: Wilson (3).
Selkirk: Tries: Darling, Harkness, McVie; Cons: Cassidy (3)
Teams:
Heriot's: Goudie, Short, Thomson, Anderton, Bell, Rutherford, Wilson, Dymock Burnett, Brown, Eccles, Nimmo, McVie, Dewar, Parker. Subs: Gillies, Blacklock, Syme, Reid, Wilson.
Selkirk: Harkness, Hendrie, Cassidy, Armstrong, Jones, Craig, McVie, Patterson, Walling, Murray, Aglen, Willet, Darling, Johnston, Tomlinson. Subs: Dunbar, Lyall, Taylor, Renwick, Forrest.
The full article contains 791 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
