Hawks retained their 100% at Old Anniesland against Ayr at Old Anniesland winning 21-10

The 2nd xv went down 20-23 to Jedforest
Accies beat Stewartry 18-8
GHK beat Strathendrick 21-10


Scotland on Sunday reports


Feathers fly as Ayr fail to break their duck against Hawks

SANDY STRANG
AT ANNIESLAND

GLASGOW HAWKS 21
AYR 10

HIGH-FLYING Hawks retained their unbeaten record and Premier 1 pole position in a dour attritional tussle against Ayr. Thus the travellers' monkey remains firmly perched on the back of the Millbrae men, yet to beat Hawks in BT Premier 1, as they again failed to break their duck. "I really hope we can impose our game on Hawks," said Ayr coach Craig Redpath pre-match, but notwithstanding another courageous showing by the Seasiders' sizeable, no-nonsense pack, Hawks held firm.

"No complaint," said a crestfallen Redpath at the end. "They are battle-hardened and know how to win."

Boosted by their bright start to the Premiership campaign, Ayr looked the livelier side from the off but Hawks, who lost fullback Colin Shaw to the Glasgow pro squad just before kick off, refused to buckle against the early onslaught.

Even the sin-binning of No8 Mark Sitch - controversially yellow-carded by referee Paul Burr for allegedly handling in the ruck - failed to halt their burgeoning ascendancy, and during his absence the Glasgow men scored twice.

A 20-metre penalty in 14 minutes by Mike Adamson was capped ten minutes later by a towering 35-yard drop goal by influential stand off Murray Strang. Ayr fought back, though, and after a fine break by giant centre Phil Nicol, fellow centre Nick Lavelle pounded through a stretched Hawks defence to touch down, James Noonan converting to give the Honest Men the lead for the first time after 38 minutes.

The visitors' joy was short lived though as Adamson immediately slotted a further straightforward penalty to give Hawks a 9-7 advantage at the interval. The lead see-sawed at the start of the second period. A Noonan penalty after 44 minutes saw Ayr nudge ahead at 10-9, but when skipper Ewen Logan was sin-binned for repeated infringements in 55 minutes then Hawks made them pay.

First prop Peter Dalton piled over to make it 14-10, before wing Steve Gordon, lively throughout, cut inside to touch down from a neat Strang feed. Adamson duly converted to stretch the Hawks lead to 21-10. Dalton - ironically later named the sponsors' Man of the Match - became the third man to be sin-binned in 70 minutes, also for repeated infringements, as Ayr launched a furious sustained attack on the Hawks line, but to no avail.

Five minutes from time the game turned ugly with two further yellow cards bringing the total to five. Firstly Ayr wing Cammy Gordon was sin-binned for felling his namesake in a late tackle, and then Hawks hooker Matt Smith followed him to the sidelines for a bout of retributive fisticuffs.

"We struggled to get any continuity," acknowledged Hawks coach David Wilson on the whistle. "You can see flashes of what we are capable of, but we are only playing this rugby in spurts.

"Admittedly we are still missing some key players - guys like Cox, Monaghan, Sinclair and McLay - but we are definitely capable of doing better. Still, after those last-gasp wins in the previous two weeks we are delighted to take the points again against an upbeat Ayr team, and it keeps us right up there on top as we gradually take on board a new, less forward-driven system."

This article was originally posted on 17-Sep-2005, 17:36 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 18-Sep-2005, 07:54.