Kelso 28
Glasgow Hawks17
DAVID FERGUSON @ Poynder Park
GLASGOW HAWKS’ search for that elusive first win of the season goes on but they should take heart from an impressive performance deep in Border country that had the home support fearing defeat until the final few minutes.
Kelso put in the kind of performance expected of them for the first 10 minutes and the final 10 of this game but were a stuttering, incohesive shadow of themselves for the hour in between. Their line-out misfired all day, handling skills fell below the standards they have set and wrong decisions coughed up ball so they struggled all day for momentum. That left them heading into the final five minutes 17-14 down and their own crowd baying for blood.
A fine dummy and dive over the Hawks’ line by scrum-half Nik Stingl with three minutes of normal time to go and slick finish by Liam Herdman in the final minute – there were six more minutes of injury time after that – both converted by Dwain Patterson, eased the tensions and ended up handing Kelso a bonus point win.
Co-coach Nikki Walker said: “Sometimes, you have to win ugly. We didn’t have our best game today at all but even playing as we did we still came out with five points, and that was about guts and boys staying in the fight. We played poorly but we stayed in the game for the last ten minutes and gave ourselves a chance to win.
“Our line-out never functioned and we lost seven or eight lineouts, and when you look at how many tries we have scored this season from lineouts that was hugely damaging to our try count today. But what you need as a coach is someone like Harry Borthwick, who was leading the lineout, not letting mistakes affect the rest of their game, and the way he led from the front physically in the second half, and carried ball well, was massive for us. And that’s how we managed to pull it out at the end there.”
Ironically, Hawks were missing their first-choice second rows but with youngster Ashton Young combined well with Andy Rutherford to secure good ball on their own throw and destroy the Kelso line-out. The work of Hawks’ forwards coach and former pro hooker Fin Gillies was clear – when they weren’t stealing throws they were putting the hosts under such pressure that they dropped balls.
It’s a simple game, rugby, and without a platform to attack a team can look distinctly ordinary and that had Hawks supporters on the edge of their seats until the final moments.
“To be in the game as long as we were and come away with nothing is absolutely gut-wrenching,” admitted Hawks head coach Phil Smith.
“We go into every game believing it is winnable and so, although it’s been tough this season, until the final few minutes we certainly thought this could be the one that got us going.
“But, in saying that, we didn’t do enough in that second half to threaten in the danger area. We knew we would have to defend here, and it’s frustrating that two slips late cost us tries. So, ultimately, it was a far better all-round performance but a terrible outcome.”
It had started well for Kelso as after a solid period of five minutes forcing pressure on the home 22 – started by a line-out and maul – ended with centre Frankie Robson crashing over. Patterson converted, but young scrum-half Will Tweedie, who has had some great games for Kelso and was this week selected for the South training squad, had the first of a number of errors when he dropped the restart.
The Hawks seized on their opportunity of some ball and when a superb cross-field kick by the visitors’ Paisley lad, stand-off Dave McCartney, was lost by Hamish Tweedie, Hawks finished off their own period of pressure with a fine try by flanker Yousuf Shaheen.
A loose kick by home full-back Liam Herdman was swiftly turned into a good counter-attack and a powerful 60-metre run by skipper Ryan Flett on the right wing ended with full-back Euan Muirhead picking up a loose pass to sprint over for a second try for the visitors.
There was little that went right for Kelso as they tried to find their way back in control with Hawks’ blindside flanker Craig Nolan carrying ball well and he and Shaheen frequently forcing turnovers at rucks. When Kelso did secure good ball from scrum or lineout, they were let down by poor passing or support play, and the errors mounted.
And Hawks took advantage with a third before the break. All-action hooker Dan Casserly had been denied a score in the left-hand corner only by a last-ditch tackle, but after another fine run by Flett making good ground on the right wing initially and from recycled ball Casserly popped up in the right place at the right time to dive over the line for a 17-7 interval lead.
When Kelso lost the first two lineouts of the second half, and swapped hookers with Harris Ross – who is a quality young performer, but had a sobering day – replaced by the more experienced Euan Knox, and they lost the next one, there were howls of despair from the home supporters.
When they did break through Hawks, Casserly denied Hamish Tweedie by forcing the ball from his hands five metres from the line, passes were dropped with Hawks’ defence stretched or daft penalties were given away.
Finally, they did get back on the scoreboard in the 59th minute, Harry Borthwick finishing off a good period on the front foot, with Dwain Patterson working hard to fire the attack and passes sticking, and the Glasgow defence beginning to tire.
Still, however, line-outs were lost, balls dropped and momentum was interminably difficult to grasp by the hosts and while the Hawks were tidier in possession and worked tirelessly they lacked any real threat in the Kelso half.
So, there was something of an inevitability about Kelso finally producing some momentum and turning that into points. It came after they opted for a midfield scrum, rather than kicking for goal at three points down or going for touch (unsurprisingly), with two tries in the final five minutes. Replacement scrum-half Stingl finished off good pressure close to the line, and the ever-eager Herdman showed his sprinting quality, after a sublime pass from Borthwick put him into a gap outside the Hawks’ 22.
It’s a funny old game. With a few minutes to go Kelso were staring down the barrel of a loss that would have left them detached from the top half of the table, but that finish instead takes them firmly into the play-off race and, for those looking downwards, 17 points clear of the luckless Hawks at the bottom.
 
Teams –
Kelso: L Herdman; H Tweedie, A Hall, F Robson, A Utterson; D Patterson (c), W Tweedie; G Shiells, H Ross, D Gamble. G Law, R Wilson, H Borthwick, M Cranston, B McNeil. Subs: J Thompson for Herdman (38-40mins), E Knox for Ross 50, G Cessford for Cranston 55, Thompson for H Tweedie, N Stingl for W Tweedie, N Barnes for Wilson, all 70, G Paxton for Shiells, M Shaw for McNeil, both 77.
Glasgow Hawks: E Muirhead; R Flett (c), J Pinkerton, G Cruickshank, J Couper; D McCartney, G Johnstone; J Campbell, D Casserly, B Sweet, A Rutherford, A Young, C Nolan, Y Shaheen, S Hastings. Subs: O Godwin for Cruickshank 53mins, T McTeir for Casserly, D Cruickshank for Campbell, A Syme for Nolan, all 59, F Thomson for Couper 76.
Referee: Dan Evans.
 
Scorers –
Kelso: Tries: Robson, Borthwick, Stingl, Herdman; Cons: Patterson 4.
Glasgow Hawks: Tries: Shaheen, Muirhead, Casserly; Con: McCartney.
Scoring Sequence (Kelso first): 5-0, 7-0, 7-5, 7-10, 7-12, 7-17 (h-t) 12-17, 14-17, 19-17, 21-17, 26-17, 28-17 F/T.
 
Player-of-the-Match: Bruce McNeil was one of the few consistent performers in the home ranks, while Harry Borthwick came good, but, despite losing, Hawks had several contenders. Skipper Rory Flett led by example in attack and defence, centres Gavin Cruickshanks and James Pinkerton had big games, and flanker Yousuf Shaheen is a classy operator, but 19-year-old hooker Dan Casserly stood out and claims this week’s award with a terrific, hard-working performance in defence and attack, capped by a fine try and try-saving tackles.
Talking point: Hawks revealed a weakness in Kelso’s armoury by attacking their line-out. The work of former Glasgow Warriors hooker Fin Gillies, in his first season as Hawks’ forwards coach, is clearly paying off handsomely, but with Kelso having claimed several wins off the back of mauls this season future opponents will no doubt pore over video from this one.