Hawks wake up to title task
HAWKS 32-15 HAWICK
WILLIAM PAUL AT OLD ANNIESLAND
HAWKS re-asserted their dominance of the Premiership and their chances of taking a third title in a row with a return to winning ways.

There was a different attitude among the players from the laid-back approach that led to defeat by Heriot's the previous week. This time they got their noses in front in the first minute and, although Hawick never let them have it all their own way, went to win comfortably.


Watsonians kept the pressure on by scraping a win at Currie but Hawks stretched their lead to seven points with a game in hand. A run-in against teams from the lower half of the table means it can't be long before mathematics catches up with reality, even if Hawks coach David Wilson isn't ready to admit it.

He said: "We started well and then consolidated the win in the second half, but we still have a lot of work to do to bring more urgency to our game. We saw wee snippets of form but we don't seem to be sustaining that over any length of time on pitch. At least it was an improvement on last week."

The improvement showed at the first lineout in the first minute when Hawks took a lineout from a Hawick throw, centre Stewart Smith ran through Craig Neish and the ball went out cleanly for left winger Stuart Low to touch down in the corner.

It wasn't to be as simple as that for the defending champions as they drifted in and out of the game. Hawick, lacking half a dozen regulars, were never really in the hunt despite controlling play for long periods. Their performance, particularly the youngsters holding the pack together, was in many ways more impressive in defeat than that of the home side in victory.

Hawick coach Jim Hay said: "You are never happy to get beaten but I have told the boys I am proud of them. We had a few half-chances but didn't take them and then faded late on. It was a great effort."

Hawks' second try might have come after ten minutes when full-back Mike Adamson got in under the posts but the referee called it back for off-the-ball crossing. The let-off acted as a signal for Hawick to come to life and produce some excellent attacking rugby that won them two penalties inside the home 22 in quick succession. Displaying an ambition bordering on the reckless, both times they kicked to the corner but could only get scrappy possession from the lineouts that wasn't turned into points.

When Hawks got their next penalty at the other end they also went for the corner and won the lineout but couldn't get over the line. However the referee saw something wrong and gave another penalty and when Hawick's Colin Murray was yellow-carded for preventing Hawks taking it quickly, Adamson banged over the penalty.

Fourteen-man Hawick then defied the odds by pinning Hawks back in their own half for the next ten minutes and finally scoring when centre Ross Armstrong cleverly chipped over the defence for winger Keith Hedley to hack on and dive full-length on to the ball just before it went dead.

Hawks roused themselves to cancel out that score in first-half injury time with a try by Ally Maclay after a burst of incisive passing created the space and Hawick ran out of tacklers. It was Hawks who went down to 14 men early in the second half when Steven Duffy was yellow-carded for blatantly handling in the ruck and No8 David Lowrie kicked the 35-metre penalty.

It was all Hawick at this stage with Hawks unable to find any continuity. The best half-chance, as identified by Hay, came when the ball just failed to go to hand as Hedley threw it blindly over his head when he was tackled a metre short of the line. Then a penalty attempt by Murray slid just wide of the posts and Hawick had shot their bolt.

The tide was turned when Hawick flanker Zander Bruce was sin-binned for deliberately preventing release at a ruck. Within minutes Hawks were camped in the opposition 22 and Adamson was claiming his second penalty of the afternoon to widen the margin.

It was non-stop Hawks pressure now with 15 minutes still to go and the only question left was how much they would win by. Hooker Matt Smith barged his way over the line for a third try and the bonus point was wrapped up when Duffy ran 30 metres to be tackled and popped the ball up for man-of-the- match Mark Sitch to hurdle bodies on the ground and score. Hawick were down but not completely out. The pack battled up field and Lowrie got a try right at the death. Neish landed the conversion from way out by the touchline as a final act of defiance.

Scorers: Glasgow Hawks: Tries: S Low, A Maclay, M Smith, M Sitch. Cons: M Adamson 3. Pens: M Adamson 2. Hawick: Tries: K Hedley, D Lowrie. Con: C Neish. Pen: D Lowrie.

Glasgow Hawks: M Adamson; S Low, S Smith, S Duffy, A Maclay; M Strang, S Biggart; E Milligan, M Smith, G McFadyen, S Begley, R Maxton, S Warnock, M Sitch, N Mckenzie. Subs used: G Mories, S Forrest.

Hawick: G Hogg; C Murray, C Neish, R Armstrong, K Hedley; B Sutherland, K Reid; M Parr, M Landels, K Geddes, R Hogg, R Hush, Z Bruce, D Landels, D Lowrie. Subs used: G McLeod, B Pow, B Keown, D McCracken.

Referee: A Ireland (Grangemouth).

This article was posted on 16-Jan-2006, 08:19 by Hugh Barrow.