GHA 17
Glasgow Hawks 7
SEAN BLACK @ Braidholm
GHA claimed a valuable victory in the first Glasgow derby of the season after grinding out a tight win over Glasgow Hawks at Braidholm. Such were the atrocious conditions that the game was switched onto the 3G pitch before kick-off but any sort of running rugby was never on the cards with the relentless rain and strong wind.
In the end, two tries from Rory Baxter and Euan McKirdy, and two conversions and a penalty from Jensen Gowdy, were enough for the home side.
A Craig Nolan try and David McCartney conversion immediately after half-time gave Hawks hope – but head coach Phil Smith was left to lament his side’s poor discipline, particularly in the second half.
“We weren’t disciplined in the way we needed when we had the ball, our turnover and penalty count – particularly our high tackle penalty count – was enormous, and it gave them too many possessions when we should have had the ball,” he said.
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GHA head coach Jamie McCarthy was far happier after the game. “We’ve had a tough couple of weeks results-wise so this was a really important win for us,” he said. “We had the wind in the first half and probably didn’t come away with as many points as we had hoped, and we knew that Hawks would be playing with it in the second half. So being able to dig deep and control large parts of that second half was really pleasing.
“Fair play to Hawks who threw the absolute kitchen sink at us,” McCarthy added. “So really pleased with the effort of the lads to see it through. It was really, really close and, probably up until the last five minutes, it could have really gone either way.”
GHA kicked off with the wind behind their back but Hawks had much of the early possession and territory, setting out their intention to keep the ball in hand and test the home defence. Andrew Rutherford and Euan Muirhead each made wonderful breaks that looked like they might lead to scoring opportunities, but both chances went unconverted after mistakes in the GHA 22.
After being on the back foot for the first 15 minutes, GHA took advantage of their first real attacking moment to open the scoring. A wonderful 50-22 from stand-off Ben MacDougall, a late call up to the 10 jersey after Andrew Goudie withdrew due to illness, gave GHA a line-out deep in the Hawks 22. After the maul was stopped short, GHA attacked relentlessly with short drives and their endeavour was rewarded when young Baxter, on his first start, found a small gap to ground the ball. Gowdy’s conversion was executed with ease.
As the weather worsened, the game got bogged down between the two 22s, with multiple penalties conceded by both teams. There was the occasional attacking moment, but each chance was accompanied by a mistake or knock-on which allowed the opponent the chance to clear.
Being a Glasgow derby and with both teams desperately needing a win, the game threatened to boil over on a number of occasions with referee Dan Evans having his hands full at every breakdown and set-piece to keep the peace, which just about held for all 80 minutes.
With five minutes to go in the first half, Gowdy kicked a penalty from in front of the posts after an offside infringement from Hawks to give GHA a 10-0 lead which they kept until the break, but having had the wind behind their back, they might have wished for more.
Hawks came out firing in the second half, scoring within three minutes of the restart. After winning a penalty inside the GHA half, the resulting line-out maul splintere the GHA defence and Nolan was able to fall over the line for the score. McCartney kicked a tough conversion and all of a sudden the gap was three points and Hawks sensed their chance.
But back came GHA, who refused to let their city rivals build any momentum. Their scrum was on top throughout and their relentless pressure at the breakdown led to multiple penalties and turnovers. Scrum half McKirdy was unlucky not to score after a long period of pressure on the Hawks line but he was judged to have found his gap to cross thanks to an accidental offside and Hawks survived.
After an hour, the wind really picked up, and both head coaches went to their benches in an attempt to get control of the game. With the difference still three points and the weather getting worse, it really felt like the next score would be the winner.
And it was GHA who got that score. As Hawks’ discipline began to slip, GHA set up camp in Hawks’ half. Off a high tackle penalty, the big GHA pack, led by returning captain Dario Ewing and prop Craig Miller, worked their way to Hawks’ line, and as he so often does, McKirdy spied the tiniest of gaps through a ruck to squeeze over the line for the decisive try. Gowdy’s conversion pushed the lead out to 10 points and it truly did feel it was an insurmountable difference in the conditions.
Hawks’ chances were not helped when Aidan Orr saw yellow for a high tackle immediately from the kick-off and GHA were able to run down the final eight minutes thanks to their dominant set-piece and some slack play from the visitors to earn a much-needed win, while Hawks were resigned to another loss with no points to show for their hard work.

Teams –
GHA: G Drummond; J Gowdy, C Lonergan, J Henderson, S White; B MacDougall, E McKirdy; C Miller, R Campbell, M Fox; A Kerr, B Plummer, R Baxter, D Ewing, L McCutheon. Subs used: E McGovern, C Norrie, M Marinković, J Davis, O Lonergan-Black, R Gilchrist, B Curtis.
Glasgow Hawks: E Muirhead; D Barrie, H Provan, R Flett, R Caldwell; D McCartney, G Johnston; J Campbell, D Casserly, B Sweet; A Orr, M Crumlish, A Rutherford, A Young, C Nolan. Subs used: D Cruickshanks, K Shanahan, A Syme, T Wright, M Waugh, J Couper, F Thomson.
Referee: Dan Evans