HERIOT'S secured a bonus point victory on Saturday, but made hard work of it against a Hawick side who fought back after the break.
The home side won 22-18 at Goldenacre thanks to tries from replacement Chris Fusaro, full-back Colin Goudie and wingers Michael Short and Andrew Douglas. However, Heriot's coach Bob McKillop knows improvement is required to compete at the top end of
the table. He said: "The game could have gone either way right until the end so I am sure the neutrals enjoyed it, but I certainly didn't. We were poor in the second half and let Hawick back into it."
Heriot's led 17-5 at the break and it could have been more given the amount of possession they had. The pick of their tries came from Goudie who ran from inside his own half to score.
Hawick were forced into a reshuffle at the break after key forward duo Gavin Petrie and Michael Robertson suffered head knocks on the stroke of half-time. Heriot's soon built up a 22-11 lead and with hooker Hue Scammell in the sin bin all looked lost for the visitors.
That was until a moment of magic from stand-off Rory Hutton saw him away for a converted try, but Heriot's held on in the closing stages.
A major concern for Heriot's this week will be an injury picked up by replacement back OJ Brown that saw him stretchered off late on.
Scorers: Heriot's: Tries: Fusaro, Goudie, Short, Douglas. Con: Wilson. Hawick: Tries: Murray, Hutton. Pens: Neish 2. Con: Neish.
Heriot's: C Goudie; M Short, G Thomson, R Mill, A Douglas; G Rutherford, G Wilson; A Dymock, F Gillies, W Blacklock, P Eccles, I Nimmo, T McVie, J Syme, J Parker. Subs used: S Burnett, I Brown, C Fusaro, W Van Niekerk, OJ Brown.
Hawick: G Johnstone; C Murray, R Scott, C Neish, K Hedley; R Hutton, K Reid; S Linton, H Scammell, G Scott, G Petrie, C Charters, D Lowie, M Robertson, K Davies. Subs used: S Anderson, N Renwick, S Robson, N Little, R Borthwick.
Referee: N Paterson. Att: 600.
The full article contains 364 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
