Heriot's gave strong hints that this could be a vintage season for the club after out-classing the hitherto league leaders Gala at Netherdale.

The visitors produced an all-round impressive which gave them an advantage at the top of the championship table.

"This was our best performance of the season in respect of our full 80 minutes but there's still lots more to do. Our scrum went as well as it's done all season," said Phil Smith, the coach in charge of a Heriot's side which is both formidable up front and has scorching pace in the backs.

Heriot's showed their strength in the scrum by shunting the Gala pack backwards on several occasions, while in the driving maul the Goldenacre side looked equally effective.

Another big factor in Heriot's win was the ability to stop Gala's attacks with quick engagement in the tackle. "We put a huge emphasis on line-speed and when we do that we put big pressure on the opposition" said Steve Lawrie, Heriot's defence coach.

There are some searching questions facing this Gala side, though, a team which appears to have stalled in recent weeks. Certainly the Netherdale team showed frailty in ball retention on Saturday and were similarly unable to dent the Heriot's defence.

"I think we were well beaten, I'm disappointed with the performance of my players," said George Graham, the Gala coach. "What's bothering me is that we haven't played well for the past two weeks.

"We're going through a wee bit of a bad patch. Every club goes through it - this is just our time. We'll bounce back."

Heriot's led 10-7 at the break after adding tries from left wing Charlie Simpson and No.8 Jason Hill to another by prop Luke Pettie, which was converted by Craig Dods. Two second-half penalties by Wilson on either side of Gala's second try - by winger Shaun Law - kept Heriot's ahead before the visitors stamped their mark on the game with touchdowns from Stuart Edwards and Glenn Bryce, both converted by Wilson for a bonus point win.