Southern Knights head coach Alan Tait frustrated but proud as Borderers lose out at death to table-topping Heriot’s

​Though 14-0 down at one point early on and trailing 19-5 at half-time at Edinburgh’s Goldenacre playing fields, the Borderers battled back to go 34-26 ahead and looked to be within touching distance of their third victory of the new rugby season only to lose out to the last play of the match.

“It was a crazy five minutes, let’s be honest,” said Tait.

“I thought we’d snatched the game.

“With five minutes to go, we were eight points in front after coming back really well, only to lose it right at the end.

“We were just so naive. We should have made it as hard as we could for them to score a try but instead we kicked off exactly where they wanted it and they got into their attacking shape straight away.

“I’ve watched a video of it and there are umpteen things that if we’d done better, we’d have stopped them scoring that last try.

“The crux of it was that we did everything wrong in that last four or five minutes and lost instead of displaying a bit of game nous to control things a lot better.”

Tait, 59, was still full of praise for the way his side fought back from a 14-point deficit at the break to get within a whisker of beating head coach Ben Cairns’ hosts, however, in spite of ongoing personnel issues including former captain Russell Anderson leaving for Hawick, saying: “I have to take my hat off to those guys.

“We have a real struggle here just getting the numbers.

“We can’t go to the likes of Hawick, Kelso or anybody for players now as their season’s started and we understand that.

“It’s a struggle to get players to come to the Borders, there’s no two ways about it. It’s just where we’re located and how it is.

“Our guys know that and they know we’re trying to get players in to fill spaces and keep improving the squad but it’s really difficult at the level we’re at.

“It’s one thing after another with this squad at the minute and the likes of Rusty going to Hawick was a big blow for us, having been captain of the club, so we had to deal with that through the week.

“As I say, I take my hat off to those lads for going up to Heriot’s, who’d just beaten Watsonians the week before by 64-0, and fighting back and almost winning the game.

“The boys are getting huge respect off all the opposition they come up against and that’s all you can ask for really.”

Adding to Tait’s woes, centre Ryan Cottrell’s season might be over now due to concussion protocols but he’s got a two-week respite to take stock as Knights are out of action until they host the Fosroc Future XV for the second time this season at their Greenyards home ground in Melrose on Saturday, September 23, with kick-off at 5pm.

Knights’ try-scorers in the capital were Sam Derrick at the double, Corbin Thunder, Allan Ferrie, Aidan Cross and Chris Bell, with Callum Grieve adding two conversions.

Their hosts’ tries were scored by Matt Davidson, George Barber, Lewis Wells, Sam Wallace, Ronan Seydak and Dan King, with Ross Jones converting four.

Saturday’s defeat, their fourth of the season, leaves Knights fifth in the table after six rounds, on 14 points.