Hillhead/Jordanhill 15 Glasgow Hawks 38

Hawks Back to Winning Ways

Hawks made the short journey down Great Western Road to play local rivals Hillhead/Jordanhill for the first time at the refurbished Hughenden. On a beautiful autumn day the re-laid pitch was in remarkably good condition considering the rain that had fallen earlier in the week. A good sized crowd were well entertained to a fast and furious local derby in which the Hawks were just two powerful in attack and particularly defence against a side who gave 100 % commitment throughout the game and although well beaten still came back late in the game to score two tries.
Hills got off to a cracking start and in the early stages threw everything other than the kitchen sink at the Hawks defence retaining the ball for long phases but failing to penetrate a resolute defence other than through a penalty goal in the 7th minute kicked by their scrum half. The lead did not last long. Hawks surged up field and in their first attack Grant Strang surged over after three consecutive rucks executed with real pace and power. Mike Adamson converted and Hawks led 7-3 with 11 minutes on the clock.
Hills threw themselves back into another furious attack and for four minutes Hawks were pinned in their own 22. Again the Hawks defence held tight and eventually the siege was broken when Hills conceded a penalty and play returned to the halfway line.
For the second time in the half Hawks attacked with devastating effect and good continuity play and sound handling allowed fullback James Gormley to come into the attack and the powerful young player from Ulster had the pace and strength to reach the line in the right hand corner. Mike Adamson landed a superb conversion from the touchline. 20 minutes played and Hawks moved the score to 14-3 in their favour.
Despite having had most of the possession the game was slipping away from the home team.
In the 30th minute Hawks forced Hills to concede a lineout close their line. A good clean take followed by a controlled drive and enough space was created for Haddon McPherson to dive over in the right hand corner. Again Mike Adamson converted from near touch. 21-3.
Hawks now tried to turn the screw and get the 4 try bonus point in the bag before half time but now it was Hills turn to defend solidly and the half time whistle brought an end to a pulsating first half.
From the start of the second half it was clear that Hawks were well on top as they scored a further 3 tries and probably could have scored more if the little errors had been eradicated.
7 minutes into the new half and Hawks secured the bonus point when Tony Herron cleverly chipped ahead and won the race to the touchdown.
In the 68th minute Hawks were given a gift wrapped try when the ball dropped awkwardly out of a set scrum and replacement scrum half Paddy Boyer picked it up and fed the ever present Grant Strang who simply strolled over for his second try of the game. Mike Adamson converted to push the score out to 33-3.
Finally with 8 minutes remaining a good Hawks backline move sent Paddy Boyer, playing his first game in the 1st XV since returning from France, darting away for the final Hawks score 38-3.
The final period of the game was all Hills. With their pride dented they regrouped and scored from a driven maul after Hawks Ruairidh Wilson was yellow carded for killing the ball and finally a last gasp driven maul from which they got another try. The first of these was converted.
A good all round performance by Hawks in the build up to the crucial game against Watsonians next Saturday. The intensity of the defence so evident in the early games was back and the confidence, pace and finishing in attack had improved considerably from the two previous weeks

This article was originally posted on 20-Oct-2012, 19:57 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 20-Oct-2012, 20:04.