Dumfries Saints 12 Glasgow Hawks 34

First Half Performance Enough to See Hawks Home

For the first 40 minutes of this game Hawks looked like a very accomplished team with backs and forwards dominating all phases of the game. Their defence was claustrophobic and put Dumfries under almost constant pressure. In attack their running lines and continual movement made it very hard for their opponents and the powerful kicking of Michael Martin, with the stiff breeze in his favour, again and again caused Dumfries to retreat back to their own 22 where most of the game was played. As a consequence Hawks scored 5 unanswered tries and led 34 nil at half time.
As the squelchy pitch turned to mush it became a great leveller, making handling more of a lottery, the plucky and hard working Dumfries side, particularly their forwards, came right back into the game in the second half and caused their opponents to loose their shape and rhythm. This meant with the wind at their backs Dumfries dominated possession throughout the half. Even when Hawks broke up field the movements generally foundered on slipshod handling or conceding penalties.
Gradually Dumfries gained in confidence and their efforts were rewarded by two well worked tries, one of which was converted, to give them some measure of satisfaction.
Hawks travelled with a much changed side as players with minor knocks after 11 consecutive tough league games were rested. This gave an opportunity to the coaches to try out players, who had been playing well in the 2nd XV, to test their abilities at a higher level. Certainly in the first half these players looked the part but in the general malaise in the second half it was more difficult to tell.
Before the pitch cut up Hawks scored tries through Jono Wright in 10 minutes converted by James Gormley, Tony Herron, with a terrific run from half way in the
14th minute and new centre Bradley Harper in the 31st minute. After that the forwards took over with tries from Andy Kikland in the 35th minute and finally two minutes before the break Ally Mawwell. James Gormley converted 2 more and added a penalty from 40 metres in the 15th minute.
Apart from the half time scoreline the other good news from a Hawks viewpoint was the goal kicking of James Gormley. With two frontline goal kickers missing it was good to find a highly efficient substitute. Those who remember last season may recall that this was Hawks Achilles heel.
The less said about the second half the better other than to congratulate Dumfries or their improved performance. In the first half they had difficulty in coping with the power and pace of their opponents from the league above but they turned it around after the break and if they play like this in the return game at Old Anniesland on 8th December there could be a shock result in store.
Both sides should be congratulated for producing such an entertaining game in dreadful conditions.
Please put Hawks next game into your diary, it is on Friday evening at 7-30pm against Greenock Wanderers. The bar opens at 6pm and hot food will be available in the Jimmy Ireland stand from that time.

This article was originally posted on 11-Nov-2012, 07:46 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 11-Nov-2012, 07:47.