Boroughmuir 20-19 Glasgow Hawks

Anyone watching first half before wandering over to see the 1st XV  game would be as bewildered by final score as much as players/coaches etc were. 14-3 up, after 40mins of aggressive high tempo rugby, set up Hawks for a comprehensive victory. B'Muir had other ideas. Sustained pressure for 15mins, allowed good scrum ball to be moved to Jonno Wright who broke thru'  and wrong footed full back for score under posts. Hawks backs offside after 17mins made it 7-3. Rest of half completely dominated by Hawks. Muir down to 14men for multiple breakdown offences, gave pen in front of posts. Crucially scrum chosen instead of easy 3pts- potentially vital later on. Great Muir defence and few wrong options kept score same till 40mins- great line out , followed by quick rucks and slick hands from Ally Maxwell, to Mike Martin, allowed Andy Hill to crash over under posts.
Then the 2nd half!!  Amazing how crucial decisions go against you and things begin to unravel. Muir put together good phases before centre dived over line- ball knocked out of hands in tackle and never grounded, ref already made his decision by blowing whistle and raising arm before move completed!?! Despite protestations no chance of Edinburgh ref changing his mind!  Backs against wall when Muir second row decided to have a wee pop as a ruck broke up, Andy Hill retaliated and Hawks down to 14. Muir walk away with no punishment!  Game even for 20mins before Muir upped the pace, got big runners into game , coincided with Hawks falling off a few tackles. Heavy pressure on Hawks line resulted in  bizarre score as Muir second row leapt over maul on goal line, scrambled over bodies on the top and touched down over line!!! Still don't know if its legal? Hawks now 14-17 down , made worse on  74 mins , when for umpteenth time in half Hawks penalised for something , became 14-20. Muir well deserving of lead by this stage.
The urgency shown in 1st half suddenly reappeared when defeat imminent. Desperate Muir defence kept the line intact until ball into space, big break by Louis Kinsey and quick hands thru' midfield resulted in Mark Taylor  breaking last line . Looked as if he could get behind posts before last ditch tackle stopped him 10m in from touch. Conv to win it , but wasn't to be as attempt drifted wide.  A lesson in taking chances when created and on offer, and not underestimating how opposition can get back into it with hard work and creating some of their own luck.

This article was originally posted on 1-Nov-2010, 22:40 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 1-Nov-2010, 22:50.