Dempsey keeps faith with his charges as they target tough period
Published on 5 March 2013


Neil Drysdale

Fifteen down, three to go, and still Glasgow Hawks have their fate in their own hands as they pursue a swift return to the top tier of Scottish rugby.

There was understandable anxiety around Anniesland when the former Premiership powerhouse suffered relegation last spring, but, to their credit, they have coped well with relinquishing the majority of their leading personnel, not least because of the irrepressible attitude of their coach, Jamie Dempsey.

This fellow oozes with passion for his job, but he recognises that the next few weeks will provide a stern test of Hawks' aspirations.

As matters stand, they lie eight points behind leaders Hawick, but have two matches in hand and the equation is relatively simple: if the Glaswegians gain bonus-point wins in their final three fixtures, away to Kelso and Jed-Forest and at home to Hillhead-Jordanhill, they will be champions. But any defeat at this stage could propel them into the perilous proposition of a play-off against one of six or seven clubs in the higher rank.

Dempsey realises how much is at stake, but, as he said yesterday, his charges are desperate to escape from the Scottish National League.

"Their attitude has been first-rate throughout the campaign and I suppose if you had offered us the chance to win the title six months ago, we would have grabbed it with both hands," he said. "But, equally, this is a hard competition and we all accept how tough it will be to go down to the Borders twice in the next few weeks.

"What we can't afford to do is get ahead of ourselves, because Kelso and Jed are good clubs, proud clubs, and if you try to force the pace against these kind of sides, particularly when they are at home, it can rebound badly on you.

"The first objective is to win our remaining matches and, if we manage that, we have a chance. Then – and only then – we will have created the platform from where we can attempt to gain try bonus points. But we discovered how close this league is when we travelled to Hawick a few weeks ago [and lost 11-6].

"It has been a gruelling winter and probably the only reason ourselves and Hawick have moved ahead of the rest is that we have been more consistent. But, on any given afternoon, any club can beat anybody else. If we don't show respect to our rivals, I'm sure they will be ready to pounce on that fact."

Dempsey isn't a fan of the current play-off structure – a single tussle at a neutral venue rather than a potentially lucrative double-header – yet he is optimistic that his youthful charges, assisted by three or four steely stalwarts, can gain the requisite 14 points which would enable them to overhaul Hawick later this month. "We had a completely new squad to work with last summer, and at one point, there were more than 30 new guys turning up for training," said Dempsey.

"That provided challenges, but one of the most striking qualities is how quickly the team has gelled. A lot of credit for that goes to lads such as Ross Miller [the redoubtable Hawks captain], Grant Strang, Mike Adamson and Andy White, who have done a brilliant job in adding their experience to the mix. They could have gone elsewhere but you can see how much they want to take Hawks back up again.

"But all we can do is keep chasing victories. We know what to expect going to the Borders, but we are also aware there will be a big crowd at Poynder Park on Saturday [the match has a 12.30 kick-off, in advance of the Scotland v Wales RBS 6 Nations contest].

"That will be a test of nerve and of being able to handle the pressure. But the lads have handled everything which has been thrown at them so far."

Both he and his Hawick counterpart, Phil Leck, are aware that, whatever transpires, one of them will be savouring championship glory and the other will be preparing his men to tackle an Edinburgh Accies, Dundee HSFP or Stirling County.

It doesn't take a genius to fathom why Dempsey wants to avoid the latter option.

This article was posted on 5-Mar-2013, 10:21 by Hugh Barrow.