Date: Sunday, 14th November 2004
Kickoff time: 15:00
Against: Heriots
Team: Hawks 1st XV
Location: Home
Competition: Premiership Division 1
Final score: 22 - 27 (lost)

Hawks were well beaten by Heriots at Old Anniesland going down 22-27 being outscored 5 tries to 1 Hawks 2xv narrowly beat Heriots 2xv 16-10 in the 2xv League Match report from The Herald Glasgow Hawks 22 - 27 Heriot’s FP JIM BYERS at Old Anniesland November 15 2004 Who said forwards win matches? This was a victory for running rugby as the rampant Heriot's backs pocketed five tries to increase the Goldenacre side's lead at the top of the Premiership table. The win opens up a five-point gap between the teams and coach Iwan Tukalo will be quietly pleased to have landed such a psychological blow as the title race approaches the halfway stage. Afterwards, Tukalo played down his side's chances of lifting the league trophy: "There's a long way to go and everyone knows how we play now, so they will be looking to see how they can stop us. But we will up our game and change the way we play, so we don't become predictable." The Heriot's coach also paid tribute to his talented backs, whose attacking thrusts tore the Hawks apart. He said: "Hawks are used to dominating, they're not used to teams who run at them and put them under pressure. If you run hard and run straight, defenders will make mistakes, and that's what happened." This game was billed in some quarters as a title decider, but that was nonsense. If anything, it boiled down to a clash between the powerful Hawks forwards and the high-scoring Heriot's backs. The suspicion before kick-off was that the home pack would be too strong for the Edinburgh side, but the best forward on the pitch was Heriot's No.8 Craig Harrison, who turned in a ferocious display. But the exuberant Heriot's three-quarters stole the show, with full-back James Thomson and wing Marc Teague grabbing two tries each, and centre Rob Dewey also getting in on the act. There will be no panic at Old Anniesland, however, as the Hawks have a game in hand following the postponement of last week's match against GHA. The Glasgow side also claimed a loser's bonus point thanks to a steady stream of penalties from Mike Adamson and a late try from captain Eric Milligan. Hawks coach Peter Wright at first declined to offer his thoughts on the defeat, brushing aside the assembled reporters in his haste to unleash a tirade on his under-performing players. When he did emerge from the dressing room, with the faintest hint of steam still emerging from his ears, he was magnanimous in defeat. He said: "The best team won. They're a good side and we were beaten fair and square." He added that he was "disappointed" with the amount of mistakes his team made, saying: "Our skill levels and ball retention were poor and we were made to suffer as a result." Prior to the match, both teams were disrupted by Celtic League call-ups, with neither coach able to finalise selections until the morning of the game. But Wright refused to use that as an excuse. "It was no disruption at all, we had quality players coming in, Heriot's just played better than us." The visitors got off to a flying start, scoring two early tries, the first from winger Teague following a kick behind the Hawks' defence from scrum half Kenny Sinclair. The second came with Teague involved again after he came off the right wing to create an overlap on the left, which allowed full-back Thomson to race into the corner. Stand-off Ander Munro missed both conversions, before Hawks finally ventured into the opposition half to grab a penalty kick on the half-hour. Invigorated by the three points – and by the sin-binning of Heriot's flanker Jonathon White – Hawks produced their first attacking movements of the game, winger Stuart Low and centre Ricky Munday both going close to scoring. But Heriot's struck a killer blow on the stroke of half-time, Thomson sprinting under the posts for his second try after a great exchange of passes with lock James Osbourne. Munro converted to give the visitors a 17-3 lead, but Adamson reduced that with a penalty after the break, before Heriot's responded with another try – powerful centre Rob Dewey shrugging off three tacklers on his 40-yard dash to the line. Two penalties from Adamson kept the hosts clinging on, but Heriot's stretched their lead on 66 minutes after Teague went over in the corner for his second try. With Heriot's lock Andrew McIntosh yellow-carded for persistent infringements, Hawks surged upfield in the final minutes, eventually grabbing a try through Milligan, and an injury-time penalty from Adamson, to earn the bonus point. Time will tell whether Heriot's have what it takes to win the title race. It may come down to the very last weekend of the season, when these two sides meet again at Goldenacre for what could be a genuine title decider. Glasgow Hawks K Baillie; W Henry (R McKnight 46min), S Smith, R Munday, S Low; M Adamson, K Sinclair; R Gillies (E Milligan 45), F Thomson, P Dalton, G Perret (S Begley 54), R Maxton, G Francis (S Warnock 54), N McKenzie, M Sitch No team list has been added yet.

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