Date: Sunday, 29th November 2009
Kickoff time: 14:00
Against: Melrose
Team: Hawks 1st XV
Location: Home
Competition: Scottish Hydro Electric Premiership Division 1
Final score: 15 - 15 (lost)

Noble pays penalty as Hawks held by Melrose Published Date: 30 November 2009 HAVING kicked all his team's points in a match which Glasgow Hawks failed to convert their domination of territory and possession into a tangible advantage on the scoreboard, Ian Noble missed an injury-time penalty from in front of the posts which would have earned the Anniesland outfit a late win. Melrose coach Craig Chalmers couldn't contain his frustration afterwards at the way the game had been refereed, but did acknowledge that a flat performance by his side was really the crucial factor in this opportunity to split Currie and Ayr at the top of the table going a begging. "The penalty count was unbelievable and we got absolutely nothing today. It was so frustrating for the players and the supporters the game was never able to flow," he said. "But we didn't perform well. Our scrum and line-out didn't function like it should have and we are going to have to play several levels up from that against Currie next week." Hawks coach Peter Wright countered that if he had any complaint about Ted Coutts' handling of the match it was the lack of yellow cards for persistent infringing. "My major concern is that we had so much domination out there, but couldn't make that count on the scoreboard," he said. Melrose received an early set-back when Gary Elder was injured straight after the kick-off, and was replaced by Ross Miller, and when Scott Wight missed a penalty immediately after that it provided the first indication that it wasn't going to be the Melrose stand-off or his team's day. He was his usual industrious self, but the marginal things seemed to go against him. He missed another penalty in the first half, and passed up a couple of opportunities to relieve some pressure by sending successive clearance kicks out on the full. Even when it looked as if things were finally going Wight's way, when he clipped over a 77th minute penalty which put his team ahead for the first time since the 22nd minute, there was still a twist in the tail, with Noble immediately canceling that out with his fifth successful kick. It was a shame for Hawks that the Zimbabwean-born playmaker couldn't reproduce that accuracy a few moments later when he miscued the last kick of the game, after a cracking break by Ian Boyer set up a golden opportunity to win the game. Chalmers will take some comfort from the knowledge that his team scored the only two tries of the match. The first midway through the first half when Wight sent a towering cross-field kick over towards the left wing, which was collected by Alan Dodds, whose pass inside gave Jordan King a clear run to the whitewash; the second with 12 minutes to go, when Ben Allen powered over in the corner, to tie the scores at 12-12. But, overall, it was a rather unsatisfying Sunday afternoon for both sides. Glasgow Hawks: C Gossman; I Boyer (J Wright 67-77), R Hair, G Harkness, J Wright (K Gossman 60); I Noble, D Boyer (P Robinson 47); G Strain (G Mories 71), E Milligan (J MacLay 31), G Hunter, C Harvey, M Whittleston, G Francis (T McGarrity 67), G Oomen, R McKay. Melrose: F Thomson; C Anderson, J Murray (B Allen 58), J King, A Dodds; S Wight, S McCormack (R Chrystie 40), K Cooney, L Gibson, R Higgins (A Gillie 60), B Runciman, G Elder (R Miller 1), J Dalziel, N Mactaggart, S Johnston. Scorers: Hawks: Pens: Noble 5. Melrose: Try: King, Allen; Con: Wight; Pen: Wight. No team list has been added yet.

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