Sunday, 10 May 2009
Scottish Hydro Electric Shield Final
Glasgow Hawks (21) – (14) Peebles
In the liveliest of the Finals to date this afternoon, a close-fought encounter saw the west coast men triumph over their Borders’ opponents to lift the Scottish Hydro Electric Shield.
Speaking after their win, Head Coach Peter Wright commented, “It’s been a tough year and to get the win in a final at the end of the season is great for the club."
Early pressure from Hawks saw Peebles defend well but Hawks’ Peter Jerecivich saw the gap and burst through for the first try, in the eighth minute try. The score was unconverted.
5-0
Within a minute of the restart, however, Peebles seized the opportunity to put their name on the score sheet with a drop goal from their numb 10 Dan Boughtwood.
5-3
Sustained attacking from the Borderers saw most of action happening in the Hawks’ half; a knock-on leading to a penalty opportunity for Peebles, successfully taken by Boughtwood.
5-6
Against the run of play, a break from Hawks’ number 13, Robbie Hair, passed to team mate Craig Gossman, resulted in the Hawks’ number 15 crossing the whitewash; the try went unconverted.
10-6
With the action continuing end to end, a neat break from Peebles then resulted in James Oakes adding to Peebles’ tally with a try. A sure-fire conversion attempt resulted in an ulucky rebound from the post, however.
10-11
As the earlier blue skies broke and the rain took hold, Raine of a different nature was added to the score sheet – a penalty against Peebles in the 30th minute, taken by Hawks’ Michael Raine, successfully soared between the posts.
13-11
A promising Hawks’ break near the end of the half fizzled out and the scores remained.
HT – 13-11
Brighter skies and plenty of encouragement from the Peebles’ band led to a penalty four minutes into the second half, successfully taken by their number 10, Boughtwood.
13-14
A sustained period of attack from the Borders’ boys saw a fumbled ball dropped over the line, on 51 minutes, a moment they may live to regret.
A series of pick and drives, and a bit of Ronaldo-with-the-right arm from Peebles number 8, James Oakes, brought them close to the Hawks line again, however the action soon took off in the opposite direction as Hawks’ number 14, Jono Wright, went on the run and crossed the line. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful.
18-14
A further penalty for Hawks, taken by number 10, Noble, came up short, repeated some minutes later with similar effect.
Hawks spent more time in the Peebles’ half during the last five minutes of the game, the sustained pressure resulting in a successful penalty attempt by man of the match, Craig Gossman, with the score static as the final whistle blew.
21-14
Speaking after their win, Head Coach Peter Wright commented, “It’s been a tough year and to get the win in a final at the end of the season is great for the club.
The players put in a lot of time and effort this year and we played some solid rugby rugby today. To score three tries is a massive boost. The improvement of these guys over the last few months has been just great.”
Glasgow Hawks
15 Craig Gossman
14 Jono Wright
13 Robbie Hair
12 Gavin MacDonald
11 Sean Murray
10 Ian Noble (Captain)
9 Peter Jericevich
1 Gary Strain
2 John Macay
3 Gavin Mories
4 Nick Campbell
5 Alan Kelly
6 Mat Whittleston
7 Graham Harkness
8 Grant Strang
Substitutes
16 Joe Stafford
17 Nico Nyemba
18 Tom McGarrity
19 Greg Francis
20 Paddy Boyer
21 Stuart Low
22 Michael Rainey

Peebles RFC
15 Donald Anderson
14 David Anderson
13 Alan Smellie
12 Craig Borthwick
11 Neil Hogarth
10 Dan Boughtwood
9 Drew Moore
1 Willie Aitken
2 Ryan McConnell
3 Neil Clark
4 David Harvey
5 Sandy Smellie
6 Raymond Joclyn
7 Donald Sangster
8 James Oakes
Substitutes
16 Trevor Keen
17 Adam Clark
18 Andrew Brown
19 Steven Irvine
20 Euan Jackson
21 Neil Warnock
22 Craig Hunter
All substitutes used.

This article was posted on 10-May-2009, 19:22 by Hugh Barrow.