Hawks started their bid to retain the League Championship for a 3rd time with a warm up match against Ardrossan. The game was played over 2x 30 mins and a 20 mins. session. This enabled the coaches to look at the 26 strong squad which included many new players. Prominent among them was Andy McPhail at centre who scored 3 tries. Flying wing, Neil Lear also scored on his debut.
The first session was a little scrappy as the team struggled to find their shape and Ardrossan threw everything they had at them. The second session saw more width on the game from Hawks and the tries started coming. Stephen Biggart frequently opened up the defense and Mike Whiteford on the wing made some piercing runs. The third session saw the fitness and skills of Hawks overpower a brave Ardrossan team who never stopped trying.

This article was posted on 7-Aug-2005, 11:07 by Hugh Barrow.