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Hawks 2’s versus Currie RFC 7/10/06

Four backs and four forwards remained from last week’s titanic struggle against Boroughmuir. A combination of injuries, selection for the firsts, illness and that bug-bear of late call offs meant that even of those 8 players, 2 were playing in the back row instead of the front row. On the sidelines yesterday we had a back row of Cadell, Wiseman and Pollock – that settled unit I wrote about just 2 weeks ago! All this meant that debuts were handed to Jamie Kerr in the centre, Phil Ludford at 7 and Ian Boyer on the bench.

So, with the game kicking off early at 2pm, it was a team of strangers that took the field this week, at a dull, damp Anniesland. The visitors seemed determined to erase the memory of their defeat last week to Edinburgh Accies and the tackling in the first 10 minutes was ferocious, particularly in the midfield area. This resulted in the Currie 9 sustaining an injury to his back which eventually caused him to leave the field early and meant Currie had to use their single replacement after only 10 minutes, more of this later.

It was the visitors who took the lead after 8 minutes with a well struck penalty, but Hawks struck back 3 minutes later when Stevie Biggart, preparing for his 21st birthday party at night, celebrated early by finishing off some good ball retention and scooting over near the posts, Mike Whiteford converting.

This should have settled the Hawks side, but passes were being forced and wrong decisions taken, a feature of players unsure of the team around them and it was no surprise when Currie responded almost immediately with a good try of their own and then followed that up with another penalty – Hawks 7 Currie 11. The visitors were further hampered on about the half hour mark when they lost another player, reducing them to 14 men for the remainder of the game but their defence remained solid for the rest of the half until the 40th minute when, after Hawks had thrown everything at the Currie line for 2 or 3 minutes, Stevie Biggart again found the space to squeeze over.

HALF TIME: Hawks 12 Currie 11

Composure was the watchword at half time. Up against 14 men we didn’t really need to force things, just be a bit more urgent and a bit more patient and improve the communication. The first 10 minutes were a repeat of parts of the 1st half though. Mistakes were made and although the lineout and scrum were functioning reasonably well and big ball carries were being made by Phil Ludford, Chooks and Mcd, the final phase was letting us down badly.

On 50 minutes the first Hawks replacement was made, with Rory love replacing Rob Holdsworth. This meant that Stevie Biggart went to his more familiar role at 9 and Mike Whiteford moved forward to 10, with Oatey taking over at 15. From the coach’s point of view it worked perfectly. Ball recycled quickly in the 22 allowed Rory to test his hamstring immediately as he burst in off his wing and scored with his first touch to give Mike Whiteford an easy conversion. This signalled a purple patch for Hawks as the man advantage started to tell. Love scored another fine try with his second touch on 53 minutes, Mike Whiteford scored and converted his own try on 57 minutes and Stu Dunk had a 70/80/90 metre dash to the line – depending on how many drinks he had last night- to ease the score out to 36-11 with almost 20 minutes to go.

This should have been maintained and points racked up, particularly as big hits were being put in by Kiddsy and Jamie Kerr in the centres and by Sack, Phil and Davy Stewart, who had replaced Ciaran. At a scrum on halfway though, we went to sleep big time and the makeshift 9 for Currie, who acquitted himself very well, scampered away almost unimpeded to score a converted try. I know I keep making the point about last season and losing the title on points difference, but cheap tries like that are the kind that will come back to bite us if this goes to the wire.

However Hawks reasserted themselves and Sack got a fine try after he refused to die with the ball – and refused to offload it – and Jamie Kerr got on the end of good hands to score with a strangely silent Rory Love outside him. Another aberration in defence allowed Currie to score from a tap penalty with the final move of the game.

FINAL SCORE: Hawks 46 Currie 25

Currie are to be congratulated for a spirited performance. If they had kept 15 men on the park it would certainly not have been as wide a margin. It may look like they leaked tries but their first up tackling was excellent. Surely the rules for replacements should be relaxed when we’re trying to get players playing? After the game I discovered that they are still coached by Gordon Haggart, who I locked horns with as a coach 12 or 13 years ago so I’m not surprised at the effort his team put in. I look forward to the return and having a few pints at Malleny.

Hawks? It would be churlish to have any real complaints considering the side showed so many changes. Individually we didn’t have a bad player, but collectively our phase play left a lot to be desired. Thanks to Gordy MacFadyen for captaining the side – well he’s going to shout anyway so you may as well give him a reason! – and to Stevie Biggart for filling in at 10 and not his preferred position.

Finally congratulations to the 1sts. All the boys in the 2’s were delighted to be on the touchline to celebrate such a magnificent display. As an old-timer it showed to me what ‘club’ means, no “I”, no “them and us”, just ALL in together. Great result guys!

This article was posted on 8-Oct-2006, 07:44 by Hugh Barrow.