Rugby: Heriot’s come from behind to secure their first victory

Heriot’s opened their RBS Premiership account in some style with a 36-29 win over defending champions Melrose at the Greenyards.

After defeats in each of their opening two matches, prospects of a change in fortune looked gloomy after the Goldenacre men reached the break 17-8 in arrears – Jack Turley marking his Heriot’s debut with a try.

And it got worse for Phil Smith’s men, who fell further behind before battling back with tries from Marc Teague, Fraser Brown and Jason Hill to tie the scores. And Max Learmonth, back at the club after a short stint at Rotherham Titans, snatched an injury-time try that stunned the hosts and gave the Goldenacre men custody of the Bill McLaren Shield.

Melrose will be keen to recover from that setback on Saturday when they visit Edinburgh Accies, who again came tantalisingly close to landing their first win of the campaign.

However, they were once more foiled by a narrow margin, this time going down 34-32 away to Stirling County after fighting back from a 27-13 deficit at the interval. Tries from Dan Teague, Gav Douglas, Greg Campbell and Callum Reid ensured Accies returned with two bonus points, but still winless.

Having posted a win the previous Saturday, Boroughmuir headed for Dundee High with their confidence buoyed. The Meggetland men led 10-0 at the break through a Keith Buchan try, converted by Graeme Blackhall, who also slotted a penalty. But the hosts dominated the second period and ran in four tries to chalk up a 31-10 win.

Meanwhile, in Championship League B, Musselburgh maintained their impressive start to the campaign with a crushing 81-12 win over Perthshire at Stoneyhill. Perthshire took an early lead, but once ‘Burgh found their stride, it became a procession. Skipper James Doig touched down four times, while James Murray, Michael Roy and Matty Brierley had two tries apiece, and Dave O’Hagan, Lance Gahan and William Todd joined them on the scoresheet.

‘Burgh’s closest challengers are now Howe of Fife, who were 59-28 winners over Lasswade at Hawthornden. However, there was some consolation for the hosts in the shape of a four try bonus point.

Murrayfield Wanderers suffered a second successive defeat, this time going down 43-10 at Peebles, but there was better fortune for a battling Haddington side that secured its first points under the stewardship of Tom Philip with a 28-28 home draw against Hawick YM.