CURRIE must beat Boroughmuir with a four-try bonus point in their re-arranged fixture on March 11 to qualify as the fourth-seeded team in the end of season play-offs, after they overcame Glasgow Hawks 25-5 at Malleny Park on Saturday.

They are now four points behind Heriot’s, who have completed all their games, but have a vastly inferior scoring differential – so they really need to score four tries in their game in hand to keep their season alive.

Two late tries from Robbie Nelson and Ben Robbins put the gloss on Currie’s victory, after Harvey Elms had touched down in the first half, but they came up one short of the bonus point which would have made their Boroughmuir assignment that little bit easier.

“I’m obviously delighted – any time you beat Hawks you have put in a performance and we definitely did that – it just felt like given the chances we had, we maybe let that bonus point slip,” reflected head coach Ben Cairns afterwards. “I always get a bit worried when you’ve got real dominance but it doesn’t show on the scoreboard.”

Hawks had nothing to gain or lose from the match, having already secured a third place finish in the league ladder, and their coach Finlay Gillies conceded afterwards that he could perhaps have done more to ensure that his players were focused on the job in hand. Hawks’ only points came from a Sean Yacoubian try in the final minute of the first half.

“The preparation wasn’t ideal. I maybe didn’t apply the right kind of pressure and said to enjoy it. Currie were determined and dogged and they were always going to be difficult to beat today. It would have been slightly different circumstances if we’d had to come here and win. It’s a disappointing way to end our regular season,” said Gillies.

Heriot’s did all they could to keep their hopes of staying in contention for a third consecutive championship success alive by picking UP a bonus point win at Stirling County, with Charlie Simpson’s well-taken score in the final play of the match sealing it.

It was a pretty dour affair in which Heriots’ dominant scrum was the crucial factor. Much of Stirling’s set-piece troubles stemmed from the fact that their leading two tight-heads – Adam Nicol and Fergus Bradbury – are currently away on Scotland Under-20 duty.

Heriot’s coach Phil Smith says he has faith in Boroughmuir doing all they can to upset Currie even though that match is now a dead-rubber for the Meggetland men.

“Boroughmuir are safe now after the way results went today but I don’t think Peter Wright will let that have any bearing on his team. He will send them out with all guns blazing. They’ve had a great win today and he will want them to finish as high up the league as they can, and he’ll love the idea of being able to ruin Currie’s day. We’ll just have to wait to see what happens. We’ve got a Cup game at Melrose in two weeks’ time and some of the boys are in the club international team next weekend, so there is plenty to keep us occupied,” said Smith.

It is also tight at the very top of the league, with Ayr and Melrose picking up bonus point wins against Watsonians and Hawick, respectively. That means Melrose are just one point behind Ayr, but with a game still to play away to Stirling County in three weeks’ time, the ball is very much in the Borderers’ court,. Finishing the regular season at the summit of the league gives home advantage in the play-off Grand Final, if you make it that far.

At the other end of the league, Gala’s relegation was confirmed by a 28-48 home loss to Boroughmuit, while Hawick now know that they will have to play the runners-up in National One for the right to stay in the top flight. A tough mission at The Greenyards was made a whole lot harder for the Greens due to seven players having to retire injured during the course of the game, and the visitors didn’t help their cause by also having two players yellow-carded along the way. In the circumstances, they did well to keep the scores tied in the second-half.