Saturday 29th December.
The Troops travelled east on their second mission to SRU Headquarters this year.
Their mission; opening round of Annual East v West conflict. Build momentum for Western Troops before Main Battle later in day. Opposition - Boroughmuir RFC Under 18's. A potentially very tough outing against a side top of their league, and unbeaten so far.
Kick off was followed by Boroughmuir exerting continued pressure on the Hawks in their 22, a penalty was awarded for "slowing the ball in the ruck illegally". This was easlily converted from directly in front of the posts. First Blood Boroughmuir.
Hawks reply was as clinical as it was quick. Kick off gathered and quickly sent wide to be dotted down in the corner, in the cruel wind and driving rain that was prevalent for much of the first half, the conversion proved too difficult. B'muir 3 Hawks 5. Hawks continued to test the B'muir defence resulting in a series of penalties wide left in their 22. Hawks chose to run these, pressing left field in the 22, they quickly changed attack to the right flank and the resultant, well taken try was a suitable reward. Again the wind and angle proved to difficult for the conversion. B'muir 3 Hawks 10.
B'muir were not to be deterred though, and their well organised pack started to really test the boys resolve with a series of well worked driving mauls Hawks aggressive
Defence caused a knock on, unfortunately the boys were penalised in the resultant scrum. Penalty B'muir 30 meters out in front of posts, well converted. B'muir 6 Hawks 10. Hqalf time.
B'muir started the second half with great ferocity and were awarded a penalty in the Hawks 22. This was taken quickly before the defence was organised and a well taken grubber at an angle through was scrambled over for a try. This went unconverted, B'muir 11 Hawks 10.
The Eastern forces took great heart from this and exerted all the pressure for the next 10 to 15 minutes with Hawks on the back foot, this pressure resulted in poor decision making and dropped balls when Hawks got possession. To their credit the boys hung in and started to get some go forward ball gaining several penalties which they quickly ran, they eventually chose to kick for goal from about 25m out right. A great kick earned the boys a 13 to 11 lead. Kick off and penalty in Hawks 22 awarded for "not rolling away quickly enough". To make matters worse, and give us even more work to do Hawks were yellow carded, though the kick was missed.
B'muir used their numerical advantage well, moving ball wide quickly and scoring in the corner, the kick was again missed. B'muir 16 Hawks 1
3. The game now went into top gear, Hawks scoring from kick off, a great take and run offloaded and scored in corner. The referee decided that their was unnecessary late contact and awarded a penalty try under the posts. This was duly accepted and converted. B'muir 16 Hawks 20.
The sizeable crowd which had gathered now witnessed some frantic play as both sides tried to establish a winning margin, attacking and defensive structures broke up. Great entertainment for the crowd, bad for the coaches blood pressure, already severely challenged by festive overindulgence!
Kick off was again followed by panic defence from the Hawks, B'muir capitalised and quickly broke through under the posts, converting, B'muir 23 Hawks 20. Coaches and crowd were immersed in the battle, once more Hawks gathered their own kick off, the intent clear, Hawks were not going to take this lying down.
A pick up from the back of the resultant ruck, attack left in the 22, a beautiful dummy sold to the last defender and a try under the posts. B'muir 23 Hawks 25. Converted B'muir 23 Hawks 27. The kick off was frantically contested by both sides, more dropped balls and the last minutes played out between the 10 meter lines.
Final whistle was greeted with a mixture of emotions. A hard fought win against a well organised and committed team. Determination and a "never say die" attitude carried the Hawks to victory. Both sides are due great credit for the spirit in which the game was contested, under very difficult conditions. Thanks to the referee, a no doubt difficult contest to officiate, under the prevailing conditions. He allowed the game to flow as much as could possibly be expected.
Thanks must also go to our hosts, Murrayfield Wanderers, for their hospitality. Year end, final score. Murrayfield 0, Glasgow Hawks 2.
Have a Good New Year, and success to all at Old Anniesland this coming year. The Major.

This article was posted on 2-Jan-2013, 14:50 by Hugh Barrow.