No reward at Heriot's despite Highland pressure in Edinburgh
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Highland head coach Dave Carson was disappointed that they were not able to turn pressure into scores in their 24–8 defeat to Heriot’s Blues.
Scott Fraser had actually given the Greens an early lead with a penalty, but though they kept pushing they could not add to the tally in the first half.
Instead, Heriots came back into the match, scoring two tries before half time and another two afterwards before Andrew Findlater crossed the line for a solitary Highland try on his return from injury.
“We had a really good start. The first 25 minutes, we were camped in their half,” Carson said.
“We got three points with Scotty early on after about five minutes, and then Oscar Baird was half an inch short when going for a try. Then we got a penalty which was quite wide out, so Scotty wasn’t that keen, so we went to the corner and spilled the line-out.
“In other games, with that amount of pressure down in their half we would have liked to have had two or three tries.
“With the possession we had we were playing really well, moving it from one side to the other, but their defence was immense, I must admit.
“We got close to getting that try on three or four occasions, but it wasn’t to be in the first half. We never got ahead with the pressure we had, and then in the last 15 minutes of the first half they started kicking down our end, they didn’t run anything, and two mistakes cost us.”
It was a recurring issue for Carson, who put the scores conceded down to defensive mistakes once again.
“It was individual errors, and at this level if you make an error, these teams are scoring,” he admitted.
“It’s something we’re going to have to work on. The boys are going to have to upskill and get better at doing things because these teams really punish you if you make a mistake.”
