Last-gasp Rennie halts Hawks run and opens up title race
GLASGOW HAWKS 12 - 17 WATSONIANS
SANDY STRANG AT ANNIESLAND
CENTRE Bryan Rennie was the toast of Myreside last night after his dramatic injury-time try snatched a thrilling away victory for Watsonians.

His late intervention not only ended Hawks' 12-match unbeaten record, but breathed new life into a Premiership One title race which now sees the Glasgow side's lead reduced to a mere eight points, albeit with a match in hand. "We can have no complaints," magnanimous Hawks coach David Wilson acknowledged.


"We made life extremely difficult for ourselves trying to play too much rugby in our own half. However, at least the monkey is now off our backs, and perhaps this setback will bring a tougher sense of reality into our play. Anyway, one loss does not make us a bad team."

Neither, conceded exultant Sonians player-coach Cammy Mather, does one pulsating victory for his side depose Hawks as clear title favourites.

Mather made the starting line up after suffering all week with a heavy cold: "The guys for some reason seem to play differently when I'm on the field, and I'm just delighted to have made it. Hawks are still an outstandingly fine team and they may well win the league at a canter, but it's been good to show they are not invincible. We worked hard in our defence, and to score three tries to nil is especially pleasing."

An attritional first half centred on Hawks' mercurial playmaker, Mike Adamson. The stand-off's imaginative jinking running saw the Glasgow men just shade the early exchanges, but an ankle injury forced him to hirple off on 13 minutes. Restored after ten minutes - during which Sonians winger Stuart McAllister nearly scored with a neat chip and run - Adamson was unlucky not to score on 25 minutes when his 25-metre penalty struck the left upright.

For a full 33 minutes the scoreboard remarkably remained blank until Adamson gave Hawks the lead with a 20-metre penalty. Undaunted, Sonians hit back immediately, and a defence-splitting pass from scrum-half Murray Bringhurst put left -winger Ally Rowe through in the corner. Up popped Adamson again, and his 45-metre penalty just on half-time put Hawks 6-5 in front at the interval.

Two minutes into the second half, and Adamson made it three out of three with another long penalty from the right, stretching Hawks' lead to 9-5.

Hanging on grimly, Hawks suffered a major setback on 55 minutes when replacement prop Nick Cox, on for injured Gordon Macfadyen, was sin-binned for raking Mather, who surprisingly had been a largely anonymous, peripheral figure. Reduced to 14, Hawks conceded a crucial try on the hour mark when Sonians' captain, hooker Steve Lawrie, drove over.

Adamson pushed the game Hawks' way once more, restoring their lead with a fourth penalty in 68 minutes after a fine break by prop Sandy Warnock. Sonians full-back Will Campbell was then sin-binned after a midfield contretemps.

It looked as though the beleaguered Hawks' defence would hold out for yet another win, which would have provided a 16-point cushion at the Premiership pinnacle, when hero Rennie set off on his magnificent mazy diagonal run which took him fully 40 metres to touch down in the far right corner. His team mates were still furiously mobbing him as full-back Campbell, restored to the fray, slotted the conversion to seal a famous 17-12 win.

Glasgow Hawks: M Strang, S Low, A Maclay, S Duffy, I Kennedy, M Adamson, R McKnight, E Milligan, S Fell, G Macfadyen, S Warnock, R Maxton, S Forrest, N McKenzie, M Sitch. Replacements: M Smith, N Cox, G Francis, S Biggart.

Watsonians: W Campbell, S McAllister, B Rennie, B Hennessey, J Easton, M Bringhurst, K Coertze, S Lawrie, S Stevenson, I Dryburgh, D Payne, C Mather, G Hills, G Brown. Replacements: J Blackwood, W Yates, S Laird, A Welsh.

Referee: A Macpherson (Stirling University)

Scorers: Hawks - Pens: Adamson (4);

Watsonians - Tries: Rowe, Lawrie, Rennie. Con: Campbell.

This article was posted on 11-Dec-2005, 08:59 by Hugh Barrow.