Biggar 6 Glasgow Hawks 45
 
Down 6-0 at half time Hawks put in a barnstorming performance in the second half to score 7 unanswered tries and run out convincing winners.
Playing on the excellent new pitch at Haretree Mill  Hawks played into a stiff breeze in the first half accentuated by the exposed nature of the pitch. Despite this for 30 minutes they put Biggar under constant pressure and the game was played largely in the Biggar 22 or just outside it. Hard as Hawks tried they could not break down a resolute defence, even when the Biggar No.8 Bruce McNeil spent 10 minutes in the sin bin. Gradually, as the half  was running out, Biggar started to get some ball and put pressure on the Hawks defence with long raking downfield kicks to maximise the strong wind at their backs. Two long range penalties were successful and Hawks defence put in some sterling work to keep their line intact.
Hawks were fielding two real youngsters in Peter Redmayne in the second row and 17 year old scrum half Sean Yacoubian at scrum half. Both are excellent additions to the squad and Yacoubian was the man of the match with a very mature performance at the base of the scrum. Redmayne wasn't far behind in his first competitive game.
The second half turned out to be a very different affair indeed.
Within a minute Hawks charged down a Biggar kick and Rory McKay picked up to send Andy Fleming scampering away for an unconverted try in the right hand corner .6-5
Two minutes later after some slick handling Tony Herron found himself in possession and with a good step off his right foot he outsmarted the defence to score close in. Mike Adamson duly converted and Hawks were in the lead at 6-12,
For the remainder of the half Hawks kept their opponents under constant pressure and slowly but surely their defence crumbled and they made mistake after mistake. Rory McKay dominated the lineout and the pack turned the screw in the loose to win a constant flow of the ball.
In the 53nd minute Hawks spurned a simple penalty opportunity and kicked into the corner. After a clean lineout take replacement hooker Callum Kerr squeezed over from short quarters for a try converted by Mike Adamson, 6-19
Now the four try bonus point was within view and five minutes later Ross Miller received the ball wide out and their was no stopping the big number 8 as he charged over the line and ran the ball under the posts. Again Mike Adamson converted 6-26.
In the 24th minute Biggar exerted some pressure that resulted in Paul Henderson being yellow carded for handling in the ruck. This could have been a set back for Hawks but they simply stepped up the pressure, So much so that when Biggar opted for a quick lineout the winger threw the ball straight to Jono Wright who trotted over for what must have been the simplest try of his career, again Mike Adamson converted to take the score to 6-33. Instead of taking their foot off the gas Hawks continued to hound their opponents and the pressure told. With 8 minutes remaining Biggar were caught in possession, the ball bounced loose and Tony Herron kicked it on and won the chase to the line. 6-38.
With 4 minutes still on the clock a slick break by Sean Yacoubian and once again Tony Herron was away and running for his hat trick try converted by Mike Adamson to close the scoring at 6-45.
All through the half you could feel the confidence building, moves were tried and succeeded and moves didn't quite work mainly due to forward passes. Overall this was a competent performance away from home against one of the teams that it was thought would be competing for the top spot in the league.
On this evidence Hawks have recruited well and they have some youngsters who could be stars of the future.
Next week Kelso are the visitors to Old Anniesland. Come out and see them and give this young Hawks side some real encouragement.
Team
15    Mike Adamson
14    Tont Herron
13    Andy Fleming
12    David Milne
11    Jono Wright
10    Andy White
09    Sean Yacoubian
01    Steven Finlay    
02    Jack McFarlane
03    John Lohar
04    Peter Redmayne
05    Rory Mckay
06    Grant Strang
07    Ross Angus
08    Ross Miller (Capt.)
 
Replacements
16    Callum Kerr for Jack McFarlane
17    Paul Henderson for John Lohar
18    Gregg Francis for Ross Angus
19    Michael Martin for David Milne
20    Tom Steven for Jono Wright
 

This article was originally posted on 2-Sep-2012, 06:33 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 2-Sep-2012, 06:38.