Saturday 24th Septembe2016
Heriot’s RFC 19 Glasgow Hawks RFC 30
Goldenacre
Goldenacre has proved to be a successful venue for Hawks in the last two years and the question was would it be the same again this year for the free flowing Hawks XV of season 2016-2017?
Once again Hawks had to field a squad showing a number of changes from the previous week. Firstly only one of the Glasgow Warriors, Junior Bulumakau remained and scrum half Grayson Hart, who had played successfully against Stirling County two weeks ago, was added to the team. Head Coach Fin Gillies had to wait till after the Glasgow Warriors v Ulster game to see if any of his selected players had come through that brutal game unscathed. The answer was that two of them Corey Flnn and Sam Thomson had played for too long and were withdrawn from the team.
Grant Stewart moved from back row to hooker and Andy Redmayne played his first game of the season at flanker.
The answer to the above question is shown in the scoreline. Hawks came away from Goldenacre with a 4 try bonus point victory and retain the position of 3rd in the league table.
On a blustery afternoon and on a well grassed pitch the Hawks performed heroics in defence and took their chances in attack when the opportunities occurred. In the end it proved to be a big powerful Heriot’s pack against a slick and fast Hawks back division and the latter won the day.
Heriot’s had plenty of possession and territorial advantage but too often they ran across field and eventually lost the ball either by knocking it on or by conceding penalties that Hawks were able to take advantage of on numerous occasions. Multiple phases of play and ball retention lasted for long periods and although under pressure every Hawk stood up to it manfully. Fin Gillies and his coaching team have instilled into the players a winning mentality that should hold them in good stead for the rest of the season. There are no weak links in the chain and that is showing in their ability to score the points that were missing last season.
Hawks started brightly and an early penalty took them to 5 metre from the Heriot’s line. A clever ploy at the front of the line out was driven over by the pack and Andy Hill got the touchdown. George Horne kicked a great conversion and with 3 minutes played Hawks were 0-7 up.
For the next 10 minutes Heriot’s battered at Hawks line with phase after phase of play but the defence stood firm. Hawks cleared their line through a penalty and took play to just inside Heriot’s half. Heriot’s were penalised again and George Horne kicked a huge long range penalty to extend the lead to 0-10.
For the next 15 minutes Heriot’s tried the direct route and battered the Hawks defence but still they could not break it down. It was ironic then that Heriot’s should score a long range try in the 30th minute. Heriot’s broke through on the halfway line, from what appeared to be a forward pass, and the defenders were caught flatfooted. Although they tried vainly to get back Heriot’s had too much support and full back Gavin Parker plunged over under the post and Alex Hagart converted to reduce the deficit to 7-10. In the process of this move the referee yellow carded Andy Hill for an off the ball tackle.
Being a man down didn’t seem to trouble Hawks too much as they took the play into the Heriot’s half and George Horne kicked another penalty to bring the score to 7-13 and wind up the first half.
Hawks started the second half with a bang and within 8 minutes of the restart scored two more tries. Firstly they ran a quick penalty that resulted in Junior Bulumakau being given space to cross at the corner. The second try came from a poor clearance that allowed Jack Steele to make a rampaging run up field before linking with Brendan McGroarty who crossed the line unopposed. George Horne kicked the conversion and Hawks lead by 7-23.
It was still a long way to the end of the game and the big Heriot’s pack started to put the squeeze on their opponents. The amount of defending was beginning to tell and Hawks were under constant pressure. In the 55th minute Andrew Simmers touched down from an attempted pushover try.12-23. The pressure continued with a few relieving breakouts but Heriot’s came back each time and in the 76th minute closed the gap to 4 points with a pushover try and conversion 19-23.
Hawks did not panic and came back on the offensive from the kick off. They broke down the far touchline and George Horne was on hand to finish off the move with a try and conversion. 19-30.
Two minutes later the referee blew for full time and Hawks had a well earned and notable victory plus a hat trick of wins at Goldenacre in the last three years.
Next week Hawks are back at Old Anniesland where Hawick are the visitors. The kick off is at 3-00pm