Currie Chieftains 47
Glasgow Hawks 14
COLIN RENTON @ Malleny Park
CURRIE CHIEFTAINS produced some outstanding rugby to regain second spot in the table. A combination of Watsonians winning their Friday night game and a five-point deduction for Chieftains meant they sat third ahead of this game. The outcome hung in the balance at half time, with Hawks looking sharp on the break and defending well. However, Chieftains stepped up the pace in the second period and emerged as comfortable and well-deserved winners.
Home coach, Mark Cairns, was delighted with the performance, saying: “I thought we did really well. I think Hawks defended very well at times and got a couple of scores to keep them in it. It was 26-14 for quite a while, but there was a lot of pressure and I think that told in the end.”
He was less happy with the punishment that has had an impact on the playing squad, despite the fact that they were not involved in the matter that led to the action.
“It’s something that we as a playing group and a coaching group understand that it’s part of the regulations,” added Cairns. “I feel that it’s a bit unfair on us because we worked hard for those points. But we’re going to work hard to get them back.”

Hawks coach, Phil Smith, was also disgruntled, although the reasons for his displeasure were very much player-related.
“We got to half-Iime in a really good, competitive first half where we had a chance to score right at the end of the half. I thought it was a good 40 minutes of rugby for both teams and I thought ‘we’re in this’. Then without doubt that’s the worst 40 minutes. I can’t find any area of the game where I can say ‘at least we did that’.
“We did nothing second half that represented anything, so that’s disappointing. The whole of the second half I looked to my right, never at their half,” he said. “We did defend well at times, and had a few good sets in the first half, but we didn’t keep it up and it’s just not good enough.”
Despite that gutsy first-half effort by Hawks, they were always chasing the game. The hosts opened the scoring in nine minutes when Alex Harley claimed a high ball and freed Ali Bain, who showed impressive pace to hurtle in between the sticks from 30 metres and leave Harley a straightforward conversion.
The Hawks response came in the form of a searing break by Euan Muirhead that created the space for James Couper to power over. Liam Brims nailed the conversion to tie the scores.
Chieftains wasted no time in restoring their advantage, with Fraser Sayers racing at the Hawks defence and offloading to Archie Fletcher, who freed Cammy Gettinby to squeeze in at the corner. Harley hammered over the touchline conversion.
Chieftains ratcheted up the pace and produced some impressive handling rugby, but a solid Hawks defensive effort kept them at bay and the visitors bagged the equalising score in 32 minutes. Alex Bryden drifted past two defenders and carried play to within striking distance. The ball was moved along the line to Seb Hastings who crashed through a posse of defenders and stretched over. Brims added the extras to square matters, while Chieftains also lost Ryan Daley to the sin bin.
Despite being a man down, the home side regained the initiative when Sayers sprinted clear and passed to Gettinby, who made further progress down the flank before returning the ball for Sayers to sprint over for the third Chieftains try, with Harley again converting.
Hawks had a chance to level things just before half time, but an offence at the breakdown within sight of the line meant that Chieftains held a seven-point advantage at the break.
Neither side managed to convert the clear-cut chances that came their way early in the second period, but Chieftains did eventually find a way through and secured the bonus point in 47 minutes. Ed Hasdell blasted through two tackles and fed Daley on his outside, with the winger atoning for his earlier misdemeanour when he sped over for an unconverted score.
Chieftains came close to adding to their tally when Hasdell plunged over, but he was held up. However, the momentum was with the hosts and they extended the lead in 65 minutes. Harley was alert to a spillage on halfway and prodded the ball deep into the Hawks 22, where he gathered but was foiled just short. The recycled ball was whipped out to Jamie Stewart who bulldozed his way over, with Harley again converting.
Hawks were now looking demoralised, and Chieftains profited from that with two more tries. The first was well-deserved for the outstanding Harley, who was operating at scrum half when he plunged over from close range for a self-converted effort. And the final touchdown of the afternoon went to Gettinby, who wrestled his way over for a second time, with Harley again thumping over the conversion.
 
Teams –
Currie Chieftains: F Sayers; R Daley, E Crombie, S Robeson, C Gettinby; A Harley, A Duncan; C Anderson, R Stewart, G Scougall, C West, A Bain, S Cardosi, A Fletcher, E Hasdell. Subs used: J Stewart, T Jeffrey, C Ramsey, A Hogarth, S Leto, D Innes, M Bradshaw.
Glasgow Hawks: E Muirhead; J Couper, C Waugh, A Bryden, L Jarvie; L Brims©, C Reidy; T Banatvala, T McTeir, B Sweet, M Crumlish, A Orr, A Rutherford, H Preston, S Hastings. Subs used: P Cairncross, I Malaulau, C Nolan, Y Shaheen, J Hastings.
Referee: Jonny Mackenzie
 
Scorers –
Currie Chieftains: Tries: Bain, Gettinby 2, Sayers, Daley, J Stewart, Harley; Cons: Harley 6.
Glasgow Hawks: Tries: Couper, S Hastings; Cons: Brims 2.
Scoring sequence (Currie Chieftains first): 5-0; 7-0; 7-5; 7-7; 12-7; 14-7; 14-12; 14-14; 19-14; 21-14 (h-t) 26-14; 31-14; 33-14; 38-14; 45-14; 47-14.
 
Yellow cards –
Currie Chieftains: Daley
 
Player-of-the-Match: Hawks had a couple of decent performers, but the player-of-the-match contenders were all in the home ranks. Ali Bain and Courtney West were standouts in the secondProw, and the back-Row was also an impressive unit, but the man who made the whole thing tick was Alex Harley, who was excellent under the high ball, distributed well, was accurate off the tee and bagged a try for good measure.
Talking point: It has been a tough week for Chieftains after a points deduction for an admin error. But the sense of grievance among the players could prove to be the catalyst that drives the Malleny Park side over the coming weeks as they strive for a play-off spot.