Referee Andy Ireland was the target of Melrose protests in the wake of the 39-10 Premiership defeat by Glasgow Hawks in a fiery encounter at Old Anniesland.

With the home side leading 11-10 going into the last 15 minutes, Borders professional Mark Robertson was controversially red-carded for swearing.

In his absence, Hawks bagged four tries to leave the visitors furious.

The Hawks scorers were John Maclay, Murray Strang, Rory Kerr and Steve Gordon, with Mike Adamson banging over four conversions and two penalties.

Calum Anderson broke through for the only Melrose try, while Scott Wight kicked the conversion and a penalty.

Ayr failed in their quest to snatch a first Premiership win at Heriot\'s as they went down to a 13-6 defeat at Goldenacre.

James Thompson was the hero for the home side as he snapped up a try and penalty in the first half to give them the momentum.

The other home scorer was Cammy Goodall, while Ben Colley slotted two penalties for the Seasiders to at least salvage a consolation bonus point.

Ayr skipper Scott Lines earned a yellow card for deliberately killing the ball on the deck shortly before the interval.

Relegation-haunted Aberdeen created the shock result of the season by crushing Premiership pacesetters Boroughmuir 41-34.

Grant Strang led the charge with a hat-trick of tries, while new Maori signing Billy Russell marked his debut with two touchdowns.

Ben Spearitt was also in superb form with the boot, landing five conversions and two penalties - missing only one attempt all afternoon.

Muir\'s counters came from Joni Hare, Stuart McGee, Malcolm Clapperton and a penalty try. The remainder of their points came from the boot of Ross Cook.

A stoppage-time penalty by Barry Jones combined with a miss by rival Rory Hutton gave Dundee a thrilling 23-22 Premiership success against Hawick at Mansfield Park.

The Taysiders had looked on course for a clear-cut triumph as they opened up a 20-7 lead - only for the Greens to edge in front going into the last seconds.

Cammy Ferguson and Dougie Gray had tries for the visitors, but Jones was the hero with both conversions and three penalties.

The Hawick touchdowns were bagged by Alex Time, Scott Forrest and Hutton, who shared the boot rewards with Graham Hogg.

But he was off target with the last-gasp long-range strike which could have clinched the win.

Former Premiership leaders Currie halted their slide by outgunning Watsonians 22-5 at Myreside.

The game was still in the balance going into the late stages before scores by prop Anton Edwards and number eight Ross Weston took the Malleny Park men out of reach.

Ally Warnock had laid the platform with a volley of four penalties.

Craig Sorbie pounced for the only Watsonians score in an encounter ruined by the torrential rain while home player-coach Cammy Mather was sinbinned.

Premiership Division One

Aberdeen GSFP 41 - Boroughmuir 34
Glasgow Hawks 39 - Melrose 10
Hawick 22 - Dundee High FP 23
Heriot\'s 13 - Ayr 6
Watsonians 5 - Currie 22

Premiership Division Two

Biggar 13 - GHA 36
Cartha QP 22 - Kelso 21
Gala 19 - Edinburgh Acads 21
Hamilton 22 - Hillhead-Jordanhill 13
Jed-Forest 3 - Stirling County 11
Stewart\'s Melville FP 12 - Selkirk 14

Premiership Division Three

Berwick 12 - West of Scotland 32
Haddington 13 - Musselburgh 15
Kirkcaldy 14 - Peebles 18
Livingston 8 - Ellon 34
Murrayfield Wanderers 32 - Cambuslang 17
Perthshire 8 - Dunfermline 33

This article was posted on 21-Oct-2006, 17:24 by Hugh Barrow.