THE SCOTSMAN REPORTS
GLASGOW 12-17 WATSONIANS
WILLIAM PAUL AT OLD ANNIESLAND
WATSONIANS player-coach Cammie Mather crawled off his sick bed to mastermind the downfall of runaway Premiership leaders Glasgow Hawks and give a little bit of hope for every other team in the league.

Hawks had won their last 12 games before Mather's boys came visiting and turned the Glasgow boys over in an absorbing match where the lead changed hands five times and the play for once lived up to its top-of-the-table billing.


"It was only up to the last minute I decided I was going to play," said Mather. "The guys play differently for some reason when I am on the field so I decided I would make the effort and once I was on there was no way I was coming off. Hawks will still win the league at a canter but we have shown they're not invincible and we have given the other clubs some hope."

To be honest, the effects of the flu meant the ex-international flanker didn't have his best game in a Watsonians jersey. The important thing was that he lasted a full 80 minutes and his sheer presence on the pitch was enough to inspire his team mates.

It was an injury-time try by centre Bryan Rennie that ultimately secured the win, but that was Watsonians' third try of the game. Hawks, who had previously kept their unbeaten record intact with a few last minute tries of their own, had to rely on the boot of stand-off Mike Adamson for all their points and failed to cross their opponents' line for the first time this season.

"We weren't unlucky at all. Watsonians came here looking the more livelier side, the more determined side and I don't think we ever looked like scoring a try," said coach David Wilson. "The monkey is off our back now and so we just get on with it and maybe concentrate on the basics. Our backs need more fluency. We tried to play too much rugby in our own half of the field. We didn't play for position and we made life extremely difficult for ourselves out there. Naivety I would call it.

"From our point of view it was a bit of reality because maybe we are not as good as perhaps we think we are, but then again one loss doesn't make us a bad team. The league still has a long way to go and we have to concern ourselves with getting our basics right and taking it forward from there."

To put things in perspective, Hawks are still nine points clear of the chasing pack and must go to Ayr on Saturday, where the home side has an unbeaten record on its own patch to defend. If Hawks stumble there, the Premiership race may suddenly get interesting again. All the interest at Old Anniesland was in Watsonians' tilt at beating Hawks having been narrowly defeated at Myreside three months before.

The action was fast and furious with both sides trying to run the ball at every opportunity but for the first half hour defences dominated. Adamson opened the scoring with a simple penalty after half an hour, having hit the post with a previous 35-metre attempt.

The visitors upped the pace with a couple of bulldozing runs by replacement prop Andrew Welsh. He got across the gain line twice in quick succession as Watsonians went through several phases before sending it wide for left winger Ally Rowe to squeeze over in the corner.

Two penalties from Adamson either side of half-time regained the lead for Hawks, the first of them a huge 45-metre penalty that literally scraped the paint off the bar as it went over.

When Hawks' England Under-21 prop Nick Cox, only on the field for five minutes, was sin-binned for dangerous play at a ruck, Watsonians took full advantage of the numerical advantage in the forwards, spurning the chance of a simple kick at goal inside the 22, to go for the lineout in the corner and set up the maul that rumbled over with hooker Steve Lawrie at the bottom of the heap.

Against the odds 14-man Hawks almost scored when lock Sandy Warnock went storming up the middle and Watsonians had to kill the ball at the ruck in front of the posts to prevent it being recycled quickly.

Full back Will Campbell was yellow carded, just as Cox returned, while Adamson kicked his fourth penalty to put Hawks back in the lead.

Watsonians survived with 14 men and the game went into injury time. There didn't seem to be any danger when centre Bryan Rennie suddenly took off on a looping run 40 metres out but he just kept running round the edge of the Hawks defence to score. Campbell's conversion was good and Hawks were beaten at last.

Scorers. Glasgow Hawks: Pens: M Adamson 4. Watsonians: Tries: A Rowe, S Lawrie, B Rennie. Cons: W Campbell.

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. Subs used: M Smith, N Cox.

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

Referee: A MacPherson (Stirling University).

This article was posted on 12-Dec-2005, 08:33 by Hugh Barrow.