THE SUNDAY HERALD REPORTS


Melrose 23 Glasgow Hawks 17: Chalmers’ men prove to be smart if not stylish

Alasdair Reid

26 Sep 2010
There is a long history of larceny in the Borders, but no sheep was ever stolen with quite the brazen impudence Melrose displayed in stealing this result.

With a fraction of the possession the Hawks enjoyed, and frequently short-handed due to the ref-eree’s enthusiasm for wielding yellow cards, the Greenyards side pulled a classic fast one on their city visitors.

With results elsewhere generally going their way, the outcome bumped Melrose up a few notches in the Premiership table and generally marked them out as title contenders. Craig Chalmers, their coach, knows there are tougher opponents out there, but it is hard to believe there is a cleverer team in the division right now. It is no disrespect to say that Melrose were outclassed in a few areas yesterday, but they outsmarted the Hawks all over the pitch.

For that, they could thank such elder statesmen as John Dalziel, Cammie Murray and Wayne Mitchell, all of whom demonstrated the sort of rugby nous that was far beyond anything the Hawks could muster. They also did their homework beautifully, nullifying the threat of Craig Gossman, Hawks’ quicksilver full-back, throughout. And, with just a handful of chances, they were marvellously efficient at keeping the scoreboard ticking over.

They were helped, too, by the profligacy of Hawks whenever a sniff of a score appeared. The Glasgow side had few problems winning field position, but there was an impression that crossing the Melrose 22 turned them into a shower of jibbering wrecks, for they coughed up soft possession almost every time they reached the last third of the pitch. Some of that was undoubtedly due to the swarming sort of defence they met there, but they were also, just as clearly, guilty of a damaging impatience.

That was clearest in a second quarter in which English ref- eree Richard Kelly sent Graeme Dodds, Garry Elder and Bob Chrystie – all of Melrose – to the sin-bin. The Hawks should have taken advantage, but instead the only points the period produced came from the men in yellow and black, courtesy of a try by Mitchell.

Melrose’s opening score came from a gloriously crafted move in the 18th minute that began with an inch-perfect crossfield kick by fly-half Scott Wight deep in his own half. It fell into the arms of winger Allan Dodds, whose inside pass gave full-back Fraser Thomson a clear run to the line. With Wight’s conversion – after an earlier penalty exchange with Andy White – Melrose led 10-3. Mitchell’s try followed from a forward rumble in the 26th minute.

From then until the interval, Melrose were back on their heels, but still comfortable in defence. The Hawks’ frustration eventually brought a yellow card for White for a late tackle on Murray, but they started the second half in purposeful mood and almost immediately collected a try through Kerr Gossman. However, Melrose levered the margin up again with a brace of Wight penalties, and the Hawks began to make more and more unforced errors.

Rory McKay scored a late try for the visitors to ensure a losing bonus point, which must have been small consolation as they made their weary way home, possibly wondering as they went whether their team bus still had all its hubcaps.

Melrose: F Thomson; C Anderson, J Murray, C Murray, A Dodds; S Wight (captain), R Chrystie; N Little, W Mitchell, R Higgins, H Mitchell, G Elder, J Dalziel, G Runciman, G Dodds. Replacements: G Innes, G Holborn, R Miller, B Colvin, C Hardie.

Glasgow Hawks: C Gossman; J White, D Kelbrick, T Preece, K Gossman; A White, K Hamilton; A Smith, E Milligan, G Hunter, R Hamilton, A Kirkland, R McKay, B Karalus, R Miller. Replacements: G Strain, C Taylor, G Strang, S Murray, R Hair.

Referee: R Kelly (RFU)

This article was originally posted on 26-Sep-2010, 16:26 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 26-Sep-2010, 16:31.