Aberdeen Grammar’s winless run stretched to four games after they were beaten 40-24 by Musselburgh.
The Rubislaw side contributed to their own downfall, making unforced errors at key moments, leading to six tries being shipped over the afternoon.
The visitors did, however, demonstrate some improvement on last week’s 56-39 drubbing at home by Jed-Forest, scoring four touchdowns of their own.
But they looked vulnerable when seemingly under no pressure, including their reception of the ball at kick off, a point of weakness noted by head coach Ali O’Connor.
He said: “Once again we started poorly, giving away two soft tries through bad reception of kick-off ball, giving us a lot to do at 14-0 down early in the game which is not ideal against a Musselburgh side who take their chances.
“But we battled back, showing a lot of character, claiming a try bonus point for our four tries, but there’s no point in playing for just 60 minutes out of the 80 allocated to us.”
Stand-off Sam Knudson made a huge contribution to the Grammar revival, leading his line with authority and kicking astutely in the difficult conditions.
But the Aberdeen side had no one to match the finishing power of Musselburgh winger Gregor Tait who grabbed four of his team’s touchdowns and with stand-off Danny Owenson kicking five conversions.
After conceding two easy tries to trail 14-0, Grammar then hit a purple patch, scoring three tries, two of which were converted by captain and centre Tom Aplin to take a shock 19-14 lead into the break. The Grammar scorers were second rower Scott Renfrew, Knudson and Aplin.
Shocked into a reaction in the second half, Musselburgh surged back, adding four more tries, while Grammar were restricted to a lone touchdown, attributed to full back Ross Cameron, leaving O’Connor to reflect on the challenge Hawick will bring at Rubislaw on Saturday.
Orkney earn bragging rights
In Caley Division 1, Orkney and Caithness fought out a fiercely contested derby in which Orkney were the narrow 29-24 winners, taking the islanders to the head of affairs in the top Caley league.
Tied up at 12 points apiece at half time, Orkney took control at wind swept Pickaquoy in the second period to grab a try bonus point, although the visitors fought back to earn two valuable points, one for their four tries, and the other for being within seven points of the home total.
Orkney president Garry Coltherd and his Caithness opposite number Ewan Boyd were agreed it had been a fine advert for the game.
In the only other game played in the division Aberdeen Wanderers lost their unbeaten record at Grangemouth where they were beaten 44-27 by the Stags.
In Caley 2 North, 2nd Highland surged to the top of the league after a narrow 19-10 win at Banff, while in Caley 3 North, 2nd Gordonians made it four wins in a row after beating Aberdeen University 36-5 at Countesswells.
In Caley 4 North, Peterhead, in their first outing of the season, stunned title-chasing Deeside, easing past the Banchory side 19-5 at Catto Park.
