Dunbar hosted the Glasgow Hawks at Hallhill, on Saturday in Round 3 of the BT Cellnet Cup. A healthy crowd of around 300 braved the inclement weather to witness what was quite simply the biggest match in the home Club’s history. The visitors accorded Dunbar full respect by fielding a full strength side and they had to look lively as the home side started very positively with Dunbar pinning themselves in the visitor’s 22. An early break by Jamie Peters saw play taken to within 5 yards of the Glasgow sides line and only desperate defence saw Gary Bell finally driven into touch. Gradually the Hawks forced themselves into Dunbar’s 22 and they took the lead when Mike Adamson converted a penalty for handling at a ruck. Undeterred by this reverse and roared on by an extremely vociferous touchline support Dunbar competed well at the scrum and breakdown situation, the lineout at times saw the Hawks possession stolen or disrupted. The excellent teamwork of the City team saw them finally rewarded with a try after 18 minutes when the pack took a driving maul over the try line. The tackle count of the home side was increasing but not lessening in strength as the home side strived to contain their streetwise opponents. The greater tempo and intensity of the Hawks driving saw them finally create space for their speedy backs to finally outpace the home sides plucky defence, resulting in three further tries which along with two conversions saw the Glasgow side lead 27 – 0.
The commitment and tenacity shown by the home side saw them enjoy another spell of sustained pressure testing the defence of the Hawks to the full, finally Dunbar got their just reward when a penalty was awarded for killing the ball and the conversion by Jamie Peters saw Dunbar reach half time 27 – 3 in arrears.
The second half continued in the same vein as the first with the Hawks trying to attack from deep only to be met with stout defence from the home team. With the expansive game being contained the Hawks were forced to resort to use the forwards to set up driving mauls which saw two tries as well as an extremely controversial penalty try awarded, two successful conversions saw the Hawks hit the hour mark leading by 44 – 3. The home players continued to surprise their illustrious opponents by refusing to lie down and they created further penalty chances, which they spurned, determined to try and drive over from five-yard lineouts. The efforts of both David Gilchrist and Callum Champion saw possession retained but their efforts were match by a determined Glasgow side who did not want to see their try line breached. The Hawks superior fitness finally wore down the efforts in defence in particular of both Robert Courtney and Jamie Peters and gaps finally began to appear for the City side to run in four further tries, three were converted to make the final score 70 – 3.
This was a Herculean effort by the home team which is not reflected in the score, the Hawks were clinical at taking their chances, and both Chairman Brian Simmers and Captain Eric Milligan gracious in victory paying tribute to the home side’s fitness and skill and commenting that this was exactly the kind of warm up match that they required as they turn their attention to retaining their Premiership crown.
Home Coaches Stevie Dick and Stevie Bisset were extremely proud of all the players and grateful for the role that the touchline support played in its efforts to encourage and cajole the players into a higher level of intensity and speed which was needed during the match.
Attention now turns to league matters with Penicuik visiting Hallhill this weekend k.o. 2pm.

This article was posted on 5-Dec-2005, 20:06 by Hugh Barrow.