Hawks 2's versus Stirling County 15/12/07


The harder you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war – (old Chinese proverb)



After last week's defeat at Dundee, 17 players were entrusted with taking on runaway league leaders County at home. Congratulations to Andy Jackson on his elevation to the 1st XV squad, after some fine performances in the 2's recently. Even in adversity it is possible for players to achieve promotion to higher teams.



Brighter conditions than the previous week in Dundee and a much firmer pitch to play on courtesy of Robert Cheape and his groundstaff awaited us at the School ground. However with our usual good manners we gifted County an early try after just 6 minutes and they followed that up 3 minutes later with a smartly taken drop goal, something not often seen at this level.


A well-executed try from Cammy Little, playing at full back, after a good piece of work from Rory Love gave Hawks some hope after 14 minutes but County sensed the danger and 2 penalties increased their lead. Had we turned round 5-14 down we would have felt quite happy, however poor communication allowed County to score a further try just on half time.


HALF TIME: Hawks 5 Stirling County 19


Keep lineouts simple, improve the midfield communication and clear rucks quicker were the main points discussed at half time. However it was County who scored first after 3 minutes. This left Hawks with lots to do but some set about the task with great determination, notably captain Kiddsy, Jon Morrisey, Stevie Biggart and Ross Neil. Indeed at one point in the 2 nd half, Hawks had a good 10 or 12 phases in the opposition half but excellent defence from County and some lax refereeing when County should have had a man in the bin for a blatant shoulder charge at a short penalty, denied Hawks the try that their efforts merited.


Fatigue – and the lack of preparation alluded to in the quote – allowed a strong County side to score 3 further tries in the last 10 minutes which possibly flattered them a wee bit.


FINAL SCORE: Hawks 5 Stirling County 43


This was a good County side, well organised and well prepared and that is something our current crop of players need to look at. They were determined that we would not score in the 2 nd half and worked tirelessly for each other. They covered each others mistakes and genuinely played FOR the team, not for themselves as individuals.


Training will continue over the Xmas break. No one should absent themselves.

This article was posted on 16-Dec-2007, 23:35 by Hugh Barrow.