Currie 28 - 3 Heriot's: Currie claim the spoils as Heriot's are ground down

Published on Friday 13 November 2009 22:01

CURRIE got their title challenge back on track with this gritty victory.

Two late scores from Matthew Scott and Johnny Smith secured the four-try bonus point for the home team, but coach Ally Donaldson will be slightly frustrated that it took so long to achieve this.

Although Currie dominated possession and territory they seemed to lack the self-assurance which was so conspicuous in their march to the top of the league during the first half of the season.

This was Heriot's third consecutive defeat, and they are seriously short of momentum ahead of taking on Nottingham in the inaugural round of matches in the brand new British and Irish Cup next week.

As the game wore on, the home support became exasperated by referee Graham Knox, and their frustration had some merit – certainly the sin-binning of Andrew Reekie in the first minute for slowing down Jamie Syme's quick tap penalty was a harsh decision – but the officiating was not completely to blame for the lack of tries during the first 40 minutes of this match. There were a number of genuine chances passed up by both sides.

For Currie, Willie Moalo failed to gather Johnny Smith's chip kick with the line at his mercy, and Graham White almost intercepted a Graham Wilson pass with a clear run at the line but couldn't quite hold on to the ball; while Heriots' best chance of the first half came when Colin Goudie chased his own clearance kick the length of the field only to be pipped at the post by Matthew Scott, who dotted down behind his own line.

It wasn't until the stroke of half-time that the deadlock was broken, when Richard Snedden broke from the base of a scrum in front of Heriot's posts then sent Ross Weston over with a neat inside pass. The only other points in the first half came from Heriot's scrum-half and captain, Graham Wilson, who clipped over a 21st-minute penalty after Andy Adam was rightly pulled up for charging into a ruck from the side.

Peter Eccles paid the price on behalf of his team when he was sent to the sin-bin after ten minutes of the second half for being the latest Heriot's player to kill the ball at the breakdown, and that infringement set-up what should have been an easy penalty for Smith, but somehow the enigmatic full-back managed to skew his kick wide from in front of the posts wide.

Fortunately for Smith that error did not prove too costly, with Currie able to extend their lead during the period in which they had a man advantage, with Mark Cairns rumbling over after Weston had generated the forward momentum with a typically powerful drive from the base of a scrum. Despite the introduction of the highly-rated Rory Hutton at half-time, the visitors spent almost all the second half on the back foot.

In fairness to the young stand-off, a serious lack of possession meant that he had very chances to show what he can do with the ball in hand – at least until the 75th minute when the former Hawick star jinked inside his opposite number then released Max Nimmo with an excellently timed pass. It was a rare moment of class in an otherwise uninspiring match and as such deserved a try, so it was a near tragedy that Nimmo spilled the ball in contact as he crossed the whitewash. A few minutes later Hutton came off with a head knock but the injury did not seem too serious.

Instead Currie had the final say through Scott and Smith's tries, both of which were converted by Smith.

Scorers: Currie: Tries: Weston Cairns, Scott, Smith; Cons: Smith 4. Heriot's: Pen: Wilson.

Currie: J Smith; W Moala, G White, A MacMahon, D Fife; M Scott, R Snedden; A Hamilton, A Walker, A Reekie, R Wilson, A Adam (capt.), M Cairns, J Thomson, R Weston. Subs: N Scobie, J Cox, S Burton, S Forrest.

Heriot's: J Alston; M Nimmo, D McCall, R Mill, C Goudie; J Elliot, G Wilson (capt.); A Dymock, D Mason, W Blacklock, M Reid, P O'Connor, P Eccles, S Dewar, J Syme. Subs: J Ward, N Meikle, J Hill, S Johnstone, R Hutton.

Referee: G Knox.