Eight games, eight defeats.

No, make that eight hammerings. Scotland's club sides seemed to be making tentative progress in the British and Irish Cup last season, but their performances in this campaign over the past couple of weeks make dismal reading.

In four of those contests - a word that can be taken in its loosest sense - the Scottish teams have conceded more than 50 points. In all, they have scored just 103 points, while their opponents have chalked up a combined total of 383. The brutal truth of the matter is that they have been completely outclassed.

In which light, a cynic might have anticipated this meeting of Scotland's top two clubs as some sort of world's-tallest-gnome affair. Yet what actually unfolded at Goldenacre on Saturday was an utterly compelling clash between two determined sides, their performances illuminated by determination and skill, and it produced a result to throw the RBS Premiership title race wide open.

Melrose had pitched up at the Edinburgh ground with a seven-point lead over Heriot's at the top of the table. They also came with confidence bolstered by the fact that their opponents had trodden on a big green banana skin the previous weekend when they lost 18-25 at home to Hawick. Another result along those lines would have dynamited Heriot's championship aspirations out of existence.

But far from helping with that process, things rather blew up in Melrose's faces instead. It was a wonderfully tight match for the first 40 minutes, but a horrible mistake by Melrose fly-half Richard Mill gifted Heriot's a try, and the Goldenacre side never really looked like losing - even when their lead was shrunk to three points at one stage - from then on.

It was no great surprise that Phil Smith should be pretty happy with the outcome, but the Heriot's coach was beaming like a convert at an evangelical rally as he stood on the pitch at the end.

"What an advert," he gushed. "I thought it was brilliant. I think what we saw here was great rugby. I would come and watch that every week. You'd be mad to think that wasn't an advert for the club game. It's great to watch and some of the handling was superb."

Unquestionably, Heriot's were energised by the presence of Michael Maltman in their back row. These days, Maltman spends most of his time jetting around the globe on Scotland sevens duty - he will soon be packing his bags for a trip to South Africa and Dubai - but he relishes any opportunity he gets to turn out alongside his old mates at Goldenacre. Maltman played with the number six on his back, but he ran the support lines of a seven and ran crash-ball like an eight, so Heriot's certainly got their money's worth out of his return. Not that money is actually part of the equation, a factor Smith was quick to highlight when the issue of the Scottish sides' B&I Cup results came up.

"I've never experienced the B&I Cup," he explained. "But looking at it, it seems that it is a really big step. Those sides are semi-professional and ours are not. We try to be, and with the number of hours these boys put in it must feel like it's semi-professional, but they are not at the same level as these English, Irish and Welsh clubs."

Maybe not, but as Neil Buchan and Max Learmonth helped themselves to a brace of tries apiece, you would have backed both to step up to that higher level and not look remotely out of place. Learmonth, who once turned down a professional offer from Rotherham, has played club international rugby for Scotland, but it was Buchan's combination of power and guile that marked him out as the game's most outstanding player.

Smith said: "We thought this was a cup final. If Melrose had won then we thought we were gone. We're now just two points behind because we got five points and they got nothing. We've had very few five-point victories this season. That puts us right back in the picture."

In fairness, Melrose are not exactly on the canvas just yet. The early-season pace-setters, they still top the table, and they still bristle with quality players. A less determined side than Heriot's would surely have coughed up more tries as Melrose hammered away relentlessly at the line. As it was, the Heriot's guard slipped just twice, with Melrose prop Nick Beavon taking advantage first before winger Damien Hoyland darted over on the second occasion.

Hooker George Turner claimed Heriot's other try, taking advantage in the 44th minute when Mill made a hash of trying to gather a kick.