THE HERALD REPORTS


Peter Wright, Glasgow Hawks supremo, insisted he won't be pressing the panic button despite losing to both newly promoted sides in quick succession.

In the wake of being hammered by West of Scotland on opening day and edged out by Selkirk, Wright's men lie close to the league basement but the former Lio ns and Scotland hero, who inspired Hawks to a string of titles on the trot in his last stint at Old Anniesland, stressed after Saturday's 25-24 loss: "There are still 20 games to go, and an awful lot will happen.

"Our younger guys have had a real eye-opening experience over the past two weekends and the important thing is that they learn from it. Selkirk did play some fantastic rugby and they lived off our mistakes. However, the bottom line is we threw it away.

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"Their last try, for instance, was scored 80 metres away from where we had fumbled and every time we got our noses in front, we messed up the kick off. We must improve our ball retention in the contact areas."

Selkirk coach Kevin Barrie picked out rookie centre Alex Dunbar for special mention. He said: "He came to us from Annan and had an outstanding debut. He has quality written all over his game. We have created a bit of character at the club and with two wins out of two we have given ourselves belief."

Prop Martin Murray emerged as the man who mattered most for the Borders side with a try double. The other counter came from Eddie Gauche, while Mike McVie slotted a string of crucial kicks, including the clinching penalty.

Peter Jericevich and Sean Murray (2) went over for Hawks, Mike Rainey goaling them all and adding a penalty.

This article was originally posted on 8-Sep-2008, 07:13 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 8-Sep-2008, 07:42.