WELCOME by KENNY BAILLIE
(These may be the views of Glasgow Hawks).

Reflection on season 2008-09

Good afternoon and welcome to Old Anniesland for the last home match of season 2008-09. I think everyone at Hawks would accept that the first half of the season was a bit of a disaster, however, we should all feel very proud of the way that both the 1st and 2nd XVs played in the second half of the season.

For the 1st XV the second half reads as follows:

P W D L For Against Bonus Points
11 6 0 5 249 203 8 33

After 11 games we had accumulated 13 points. In four of the games we won in the second half of the league season, we came from 15 points or more down at half-time to win and in five games we lost, we picked up a losing bonus point which demonstrates that the team fought until the last minute in each game.

All Hawks supporters should feel very proud with the performance of all the 1st XV players and coaches to get us to our current league position and provide a positive outlook for next season and beyond.

For the 2nd XV, it has been a mixed season with the team finishing 5th in the league, but a huge amount of credit must go to Mike Blackie and Cammy Little for developing a very exciting team of young Hawks players.

Again, after a poor start, the team started to put together some great performances with wins over West and Boroughmuir being the highlights. It was also great to see young players like Callum Harvey, Tom McGarrity and Robbie Hair break into the 1st XV towards the end of the season.

Other highlights this season were the 1st VII making it to the semi-final of the Melrose 7s, eventually losing to the home club and the Under 15s, who not only made it to the semi-final of the National Under Cup, but would also have been crowned Glasgow district champions if it wasn’t for a quite ridiculous ruling by the SRU that if you hadn’t played all your league games by the end of March then the team that was at the top of the league were Champions by default. Well done Niall Hastie and all the boys.

Led by Peter Wright, 42 players (aged 15-21), five coaches and 2 physios have just returned from Perpignan after 12 days intensive training. This is a ground-breaking initiative from Hawks which we hope will benefit rugby at all levels at Anniesland and our three independent feeder schools in the coming seasons. Many thanks to Colin Ireland and the Glasgow Thistles for helping to organise the trip.

Unfortunately, we have suffered a few set-backs along the way this season as well. Losing to Howe of Fife in the Scottish Cup was an embarrassing result for all connected with the Club. Taking nothing away from Howe who are an excellent club and thoroughly deserved to win the tie, the players let themselves down that day, but have come back strongly and we now find ourselves playing Jed-Forest for a place in the final of the SHE Shield at Murrayfield on SUNDAY, May 10.

WELCOME

Jed-Forest have just narrowly missed out on promotion to Premier 1 and are a club that has given Hawks a number of tough games over the years. Peter Wright watched their quarter-final win over Falkirk at Riverside last week and he expects another tough game today.

A warm, Spring welcome to the Jed players, President John Davidson and any supporters who have travelled up from Jedburgh for today’s game.

CLUB NEWS

Player of the Year Dinner Dance, Sat May 16 – Tickets are selling VERY fast so if you are interested in coming, please contact Chris Breckenridge at [email protected] or on 07976 564 662.

Hawks Mini Rugby – Our mini rugby section continues to run two sessions every week – 10:00-11:00 AM on Saturday mornings at Donald Dewar Leisure Centre and 3:30-4:30 PM on Thursday afternoons at Netherton Community Centre. The mini rugby will run until mid-June with an average of 35-40 boys and girls participating each week and we plan to hold a tournament for them before the end of the school year.

Summer Camp – This will once again run during the first week of August from 3rd to 7th and all boys and girls aged 8 – 16 are welcome to attend. Information will soon appear on the website, but in meantime, if you are interested in booking a place for your son or daughter, please contact Grant Talbot at [email protected] or on 07825 181 041.

DAVID WILLIAMS

It was with extreme sadness we received the news that after a long battle against cancer, David ‘Taff’ Williams passed away on Tuesday, April 9.

David was a passionate supporter of rugby at Old Anniesland for many years, contributing huge amounts of time, energy and finance. He was instrumental in the establishment of Hawks in 1997 and over the years acted as a Director and 1st XV team manager and latterly as an ardent supporter and friend to many.

On a personal level, my fondest memories of David were as team manager when he would go out of his way to do just about anything for the Hawks players if it meant that their time at Anniesland was as enjoyable as it could be and as such I have received messages from players far and wide passing on their condolences. It was great to see such a good turnout of former players at his funeral on Thursday and everyone’s thoughts are with Phyllis, Keith, Sally and Vic and baby Brodie. As such we will be observing a minute’s silence for David before today’s game.

In addition, the minutes silence will also recognise the passing on of Russell Bruce – Glasgow Accies, Scotland and Barbarians. He was 90 and our thoughts are with all his family and friends.

Kenny Baillie
Chief Executive
25.04.2009

This article was originally posted on 24-Apr-2009, 10:25 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by on 24-Apr-2009, 13:45.