Heriot's remain the only club not to have dropped out of the highest tier of Scottish rugby, and it doesn't look as if they will need to worry about the prospect any time soon.

Fresh from a superb performance against Melrose at the weekend - which they won 30-17, and scored five coruscating tries - the Edinburgh club's coach, Phil Smith, and captain, Graham Wilson, are both convinced this could be the catalyst for a crack at the title.

As things stand, they lie second, a couple of points behind Melrose, but Heriot's realise the significance of this Saturday's action when they travel to Gala, and Ayr make the journey to The Greenyards. "It means the four of us will be playing within four miles of one another," said Smith. Their Premiership ambitions could rise several notches with another victory. The difference now, following a string of recent successes, is that confidence is oozing through the whole squad.

"It was a monumental win [against Melrose], because our league season would have been pretty much over if we had lost, and yet the lads went out and truly expressed themselves and you couldn't ask for much better, even though we did miss four of the conversions," said Smith.

"It gives us belief on the road to Netherdale, and it will be criminal if we can't kick on, but that is one of the great things about this competition: you can't look at the calendar and decide any match will be easy. Some people were commenting that we had underestimated Hawick the previous week [in defeat]. Absolute nonsense. They played better than us on the day and deserved what they got."

Wilson, for his part, was equally candid in summarising the wafer-thin margins which can leave supporters beaming or screaming. "We have been going well this season, and I feel we have a lot of strength in depth in the current squad," said the scrum-half. "The new guys who joined at the start of the campaign have really added something. In the past, we have been a team who could probably beat anybody on their day, but probably lose to anybody on another day. But we are making ourselves much more difficult to beat and much of that is down to Phil and Stevie Lawrie.

Off the pitch, assisted by such stalwart individuals as former Scotland and Lions prop, Iain Milne, Heriot's are also in buoyant shape, with a high number of youngsters flocking to their training evenings. "The club is flying, basically, and the input of [president] Donald Gray and the Bear [Milne] has been fantastic," said Smith. "Nobody is getting carried away - we are only in October - but there is certainly a feeling of optimism around Goldenacre and it is great to be part of that."

Team of the week

Howe of Fife have been carrying out terrific work for many years, quite apart from recording some memorable results in various cup competitions. But they knew they had to end Jed-Forest's unbeaten record on Saturday to maintain their challenge in the Scottish Championship B League and demonstrated their grit with a hard-fought 19-16 win to end the Borderers' previous 100% streak.

Talking point

It might be too early to start writing off any club, but Currie have surely left themselves with a mountain to climb after mustering just six points from their first 10 fixtures. That leaves them seven points behind Stirling County, who have two games in hand over the Balerno outfit. Even at this stage, it will be a near-miracle if they escape the drop.