London Scottish 14 Yorkshire Carnegie 26: Carnegie keep pressure on leaders London Irish with solid win over London Scottish

The winger’s brace, allied to an effort from centre Pete Lucock, was enough for Bryan Redpath’s side to pick up victory at London Scottish although they did miss out on a bonus point.

Carnegie, who host derby rivals Rotherham Titans on Sunday, led 23-14 at the break in hooker Phil Nilsen’s 200th appearance for the club but could only then add a Joe Ford penalty.

Ex-Wasps player Holmes scored the first of his double inside just seven minutes although that was soon wiped out by Scottish hooker Dave Cherry, Peter Lydon converting.

Ford added a penalty and converted Holmes’ second after the winger latched on to Alex Davies’ kick following a fine Richard Mayhew turnover.

Scottish saw George Cullen yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on which allowed Ford to slot another a further penalty.

That said, the home side actually scored a second try when down to 14 men, Taniela Koroi burrowing over from another strong line-out drive with Lydon improving from wide-out.

However, a quality counter-attack from ex-London Welsh full-back Chris Elder set up position for a third Carnegie try, Lucock eventually scoring. Although Redpath’s side dominated possession in the second period, they had little to show for it.

They lacked precision when it mattered most in good positions and then they, too, were reduced to 14 men in the 70th minute when Ford was sin-binned.

However, they held on to deny Scottish a bonus point, and Nilsen said: “It was nice to get the win on my 200th game.

“I remember losing my 100th away at Jersey which left a sour taste so I’ve just thanked boys.

“It was in the back of my mind (milestone) as there’d been a lot of social media about it and a lot of support.

“But I tried to put it to the back and concentrate on the game as the big thing was to get that win.”

The 31-year-old conceded it was “frustrating” for second-placed Carnegie to not get a fourth try and bonus point.

“We scored three tries in the first half,” he said. “We conceded a couple from the maul but felt in control. The scrum functioned really well but the line-out didn’t. It’s hard to say why. It’s been good for most of the season. We are working on it, though, and we’ll make sure we put it right next week.

“It was frustrating but the lads put in a massive effort defensively to keep them out as they were chasing a bonus point themselves.”