Perthshire 12 - 24 Melrose: Melrose scramble into semi-finals after scare

Henderson, who formerly plied his trade at The Greenyards, said: "I thought we competed very well for the whole game. For the first 20 minutes certainly we matched them in every department, but they then punished us with quick scores to get back into it."

Perthshire shocked the visitors with a Gary Coull try in 26 minutes, although the score seemed to jolt some life into Melrose, aware that they could be heading for a shock cup exit.

Jamie Murray powered over for a try and Gary Elder put his side in front in the space of five minutes to turn the game around. Skipper Scott Wight converted both.

While Melrose dominated the second half, they failed to kill the game off. They were denied three tries, two by forward passes and another when Craig Jackson put a foot in touch.

Gavin Bloice's try for Perthshire with 16 minutes to go once again left the game in the balance with only two points between the sides.

However, they were able to breathe a little easier when Grant Runciman went over to secure what proved to be a less than impressive win and one that did not augur well for a third successive Murrayfield final appearance.

Perthshire's forwards proved a constant source of trouble for Melrose and their defensive play and tackling was immense.

They maintained the cut-and-thrust tactics in the second half and Bloice's touchdown generated excitement in the club's biggest crowd of the season.

As Henderson acknowledged, there were no failures in the Perthshire side, which, with a little luck, might have added to its two tries.

While Melrose coach Craig Chalmers was keen to get his players back into the dressing room after the winning scores came in the final minutes, Wight admitted there was a sense of relief in the visiting camp that they had prevailed in the end.

"It is never easy going away in the cup," he said. "Perthshire came at us early on and showed great passion and it was a bit of a reality check for us."

Perthshire will hope that they can exhibit such an impressive attitude on a regular basis next season so that they can plot a promotion challenge.

Scorers: Perthshire: Tries: Coull, Bloice. Con: Clow.

Melrose: Tries: Murray, Elder, Runciman. Cons: Wight (3). Pen: Wight.

Perthshire: J Steele; E Oag, C Assenti, R Carmichael, K Doe; G Clow, A Elder; N Drummond, T Simpson, J Whyte, A Pattinson, S Moffat, D Bowater, A Anderson, G Coull. Subs: Z Bowater, E Melville, B Ockenden, G Bloice.

Melrose: F Thomson; C Anderson, J Murray, C Jackson, B Allen; S Wight, S McCormick; K Cooney, W Mitchell, A Gillie, S Johnston, G Dodds, G Elder, G Runciman, R Miller. Substitutes: L Gibson, T Miskelly, B Dick, R Chrystie.

Referee: G Gordon.