Hawks edge inter-city battle
ACCIES 13 - 24 HAWKS
IAIN MORRISON NATIONAL CUP FINAL - AT MURRAYFIELD
GLASGOW Hawks shrugged off the early loss of their skipper Steven Duffy and prop Nick Cox to win this inter-city cup final, thanks largely to the accurate boot of Mike Adamson who thoroughly deserved his man of the match award.

Both sides scored two tries apiece in a game that was a little short of running rugby but Adamson grabbed four penalties and a conversion to ensure his side returned to the West Coast with the silverware. It was Hawks' fifth appearance in the final and their third success. At least Accies prop Alistair Marsh had the consolation of returning to Hawick to celebrate the marriage he had entered into that very morning after a mad dash by helicopter had delivered him to Murrayfield. Thankfully he didn't suffer the same fate as the GHK team, who were stuck in a Murrayfield lift for 20 minutes after winning the plate final.

Hawks' coach David Wilson had done his homework as his side attacked Accies at their strongest point, repeatedly driving through the forwards, with backs who keep the ball alive in contact better than any other side in the land. In addition to Adamson, players like Murray Strang, Ricky Munday and Ally MacLay all had a little too much nous for their opponents, who occasionally showed signs of nativity in their option taking.

If there was any controversy it centred on the yellow card shown Accies lock Ed Stuart on 35 minutes because, with the big man in the bin, Hawks gorged themselves on 15 points which effectively settled this match. No-one can complain about the referee's decision, but Accies might wonder why Kenny Sinclair got off with a caution for the same offence in the same part of the field after the break.

The second division side raced into an early lead when Stuart piled through the middle of a maul to score from close range. Gavin Douglas missed the conversion and an early penalty but the fly-half did make some amends with a sweetly-struck drop goal to extend his side's lead.

Adamson had already pulled three points back when his side grabbed the lead with three scores in ten minutes with the advantage of an extra man the field.

The fly-half slotted another simple penalty and then Accies full back Ross Browne suffered a moment of madness, running back a high kick before passing straight to Hawks' grateful flanker John Fitzpatrick who shrugged off a couple of inept tackles to score in the corner. Ally MacLay then rubbed a little salt in the wounds with his side's second try five minutes into the second half after Murray Strang made one of his trade-mark off-loads. Stuart returned to the action a little sheepishly with the match all but lost.

Accies skipper Dan Teague grabbed another try for the Edinburgh club to narrow the gap to just five points but that was a close as it got. Hawks then had their own moment of madness, spurning a kickable chance and opting for an attacking lineout that they promptly lost. Luckily for the Glasgow club, someone's brain was still working and, with territorial advantage, Adamson duly kicked the next two penalties on 62 and 66 minutes to leave Accies with a mountain to climb and little time to do it.

To their credit they didn't give up and scrum-half Mike Campbell looked like he might run the length of the pitch before Adamson, who else, made the vital tackle.

Edinburgh Academicals: R Browne (C Kinloch, 70), J-M Howison, L McCann, P Loudon, D Rattray; G Douglas (S Walker, 70), M Campbell (R Bonner, 79); P Burns (D MacLeod, 57), J Edwards, A Marsh (E Stott, 57), E Stuart, N Pike (S Paterson, 70), D Teague, J Parker, G campbell.

Glasgow Hawks: M Strang, S Gordon, R Munday, S Duffy (S Smith, 32), R Kerr; M Adamson, K Sinclair; N Cox (G MacFadyen, 26), D Malcolm (J MacLay, 48), G Mories, A Dale, S Warnock, N Calddell (G Francis, 60), J Fitzpatrick, A MacLay.

Referee: Peter Allan.

Scorers: Accies - Try: Stuart, Teague. Drop: Douglas. Hawks - Try: Fitzpatrick, MacLay. Con: Adamson. Pen: Adamson (4)

This article was posted on 6-May-2007, 07:52 by Hugh Barrow.