Glasgow Hawks​7 Currie 16

Somewhere only we know

“Oh simple thing where have you gone
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you're gonna let me in
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin

And if you have a minute why don't we go
Talk about it somewhere only we know?
This could be the end of everything
So why don't we go
So why don't we go

This could be the end of everything
So why don't we go
Somewhere only we know”

© Keane
There was a black cloud over Old Anniesland from which the native west coast gods opened the heavens and poured on the righteous and unrighteous in equal measure. The pitch was heavy and the home sides for seemed even more leaden when the game kicked off.
Currie had shipped 7 tries at Malleny Park earlier in the season against a Hawks side who fulfilled every piece of their potential that day. At the time Coach Jamie Demspey, while pleased with that day’s work, had expressed surprise at the Currie performance, poor from side he rated. The season has taken a turn of form for the Balerno side as they put together a series of results which could be the saving of them. Hawks in contrast have been stuck in the middle of the table for a few weeks unable to grasp the 4 or so points which would almost certainly secure their place in the league.
Hawks kicked off, but Currie were up on them quickly with James Semple kicking into Hawks territory. The home side coughed up a penalty which was kicked to touch. The line out was won cleanly and the ball went to hooker David Cherry who ran round the narrow side diving over for the easiest of tries as the Hawks defence were absent. George Horne missed the difficult conversion but it was small consolation. (0-5)
Hawks struggled to have a go at Currie and seemed to cough up the ball at key points. Turnovers in contact were common and if the ball wasn’t turned over the visitors seemed to gain penalties at will in the contact area.
The Hawks highlight when they came was from Hadden McPherson who seemed to make yards with each possession he got. But control lay with Semple who kept Hawks pinned for long periods in their own half. There was no surprise when Horne kicked three points as Hawks were penalised for not rolling away in 12 minutes. (0-8)
Hawks started to come to grip with the conditions, they started to keep the ball in the pack. Ball in hand the home side took advantage of their pack as they ground forward. A couple of scrums close to the line had Currie under pressure. The visiting front-row were struggling to contain Steven Findlay and Brendan Cullinane and resorted to dropping the scrum and popping up to try and deal with the threat. After a couple of sets the referee had seen enough and awarded a penalty try. With Jack Steele adding the conversion Hawks were within a point (7-8)
The game moved toward half-time with little further incident although Steele fell just short with a 48 metre penalty attempt.
Currie had Hawks under pressure almost straight from the kick-off, the ball was quickly reclaimed and Semple burst through the cover heading across the park. He offloaded smartly to Ethan Pollock who ghosted past the Hawks defence to go over for the second try, again Horne couldn’t convert. (7-13)
A lead of 6 points still saw Hawks within a bonus point and Currie were well aware that winning by more than 7 was key to pinning the Glasgow side back. On the hour Horne put Currie 9 ahaed with a penalty. (7-16)
Conditions had deteriorated markedly prior to Horne’s penalty and although Hawks had the better of the possession it was almost impossible to hold on to the ball when they had Currie under pressure. Whilst Leone Nakawara had an exhilarating run you were left with the feeling that he spent too little time in the trenches with the pack.
The game ground slowly, laboriously towards the finishing line and you seldom felt that either side were capable of scoring. The home support were stunned at the final whistle as a fatalistic mood descended, the early season’s hopes have been replaced by the reality of dog eat dog at the business end of the season. A tiredness seems to have gripped bot players and supporters after last season’s euphoria.
Maybe it’s time to go somewhere and pull ourselves together, to rediscover the strength of the early season performances.

This article was posted on 2-Feb-2014, 14:38 by Hugh Barrow.