The ninth-placed Borderers, now on 35 points from 18 fixtures with four left to play, remain six points clear of the top flight’s three-deep relegation zone thanks to a 15-12 defeat for third-from-bottom Edinburgh Academical hosting the team immediately beneath them, Marr, on Saturday gone at the same time as they were losing 33-14 elsewhere in the capital. Loosehead prop Grant Shiells and fly-half Liam Herdman scored tries for co-head coaches Bruce McNeil and Nikki Walker’s visitors at Balerno’s Malleny Park, both converted by right-winger Dwain Patterson. Fourth-placed Currie’s five tries were touched down by Alex Harley at the double, Ali Bain, Courtney West and Ed Hadsell, with fly-half Harley converting all but one of them to give them a bonus-point victory despite being left two men short at one point by two yellow cards in three first-half minutes for Bain and Scott Robeson. Kelso will be out to make amends for a 52-12 defeat in October’s reverse fixture at Mansfield Park when they host Hawick this weekend for a Border League double-header, with kick-off at Poynder Park at 3pm. It’s the Greens’ second game of this season in the regional league – following a 34-15 double-header defeat at Selkirk at the start of February – with their third to follow at home to Peebles next Friday, March 7, with kick-off at 7.30pm. Kelso have two Border League games under their belts, a 37-19 victory hosting Gala last August and a 26-all draw away to Jed-Forest at the end of January, leaving them fourth in the standings on six points, three places and six points better off than head coach Graham Hogg’s Hawick. The Greens, on the other hand, are three places better off than their upcoming hosts in the premiership, sitting sixth, on 45 points from 17 fixtures. Hawick’s three Border League games in the space of three weeks, the last being a double-header away to Melrose on Saturday the 22nd at 3pm, are among five lined up for March, the others being a visit from Gala for Selkirk next Friday at 7.30pm and Melrose hosting Jed on Saturday the 8th at 3pm. Kelso director of rugby Neil Hinnigan blames wastefulness on the part of the Borderers for them returning south empty-handed on Saturday. His side’s defeat in the capital could easily have gone the other way, he reckons, with the fourth-placed hosts’ ruthlessness when presented with a near-20-point head-start to take into half-time by their visitors being the only difference between the two teams. “It was a case of not getting off the bus in the first 20 minutes and, in no time at all, Currie had got themselves into a 19-0 lead,” Hinnigan told Borders Rugby TV afterwards. “The wind was behind them at that point, and when Kelso turned around, they got back into the game at 19-14 and at that point they looked the likelier winners. However, Currie rallied again and scored two late tries to steal the victory. “There wasn’t a hell of a lot in the game and it could probably have gone either way, especially midway through the second half. “Kelso will feel disappointed that they’ve come away with nothing. “There’s some defensive stuff to work on from that but it was maybe about just not being clinical enough in attack. “It was certainly a case of points going begging for Kelso but Currie did enough to get the five points, so well done to them.” Kelso are due to play Currie again in the reverse fixture at home at Poynder Park in three weeks’ time. That’s on Saturday, March 22, with kick-off at 3pm.