GHA RFC MATCH 59: GHA RFC 3 – 16 HAWICK RFC
2004/2005: Scottish Premiership One
GHA RFC |
|
HAWICK RFC| I. Kennedy | 15 | C. Murray |
| R. Watson | 14 | K. Hedley |
| A. Bulloch | 13 | J. Houston |
| R. West | 12 | G. Law |
| R. McClymont | 11 | C. Bruce |
| J. Naufahu | 10 | B. Sutherland |
| AJ. MacFarlane | 9 | K. Reid |
| R. Nolan | 1 | B. McNeill |
| D. Malcolm | 2 | G. Scott |
| A. Reekie | 3 | W. Blacklock |
| G. Harkness | 4 | G. Petrie |
| J. Reid | 5 | J. Coetzee |
| J. Eddie | 6 | B. Keown |
| C. Di Ciacca | 7 | R. Deans |
| L. Hazelton | 8 | D. Landels |
| T. Kemmett | 16 | C. Farmer |
| I. Smith | 17 | |
| K. Eddy | 18 | |
| 19 | ||
| Try | Houston | |
| Con | Law | |
| Kennedy | Pen | Law (2) |
| DG | Sutherland | |
| Referee | ||
| Mr J. Steele (Dumfries) | ||
Rejuvenated Hawick continued their recent run of winning form with a victory against struggling GHA. In a drab, error-strewn encounter, Hawick established a commanding 16-point lead by half time, thanks to the prodigious boot of centre Gary Law, who struck a brace of towering 45-metre penalties.
Fellow centre John Houston stole in for a simple try conceded by a faltering GHA defence, and a neat opportunist drop goal from stand-off Barry Sutherland completed the first half scoring.
Only the occasional lively break from winger Rory Watson, playing his 100th first team match, lightened the mounting gloom for stuttering GHA. A penalty goal in front of the posts by full-back Iain Kennedy on the restart provided GHA with a glimmer of hope. But it was a false dawn. Hawick remained massively superior up front and spent most of the second period firmly entrenched in the GHA half. The only surprise was that, given their massive territorial advantage, they failed to add to their comfortable lead.
Hawick head coach Kevin Barrie was understandably upbeat. “I didn’t think 16 points would be enough of a lead at half-time,” he said. “I felt we should have been up there in the 30s, but we ended up taking the game to them in the second half. Bruce McNeill, Willie Blacklock and Barry Sutherland did extremely well for us, and Law’s game has improved dramatically beyond just his kicking. It’s a very important result for us, which takes us away from the immediate relegation zone.”
GHA head coach David Wilson remained philosophical. He said: “Particularly given how well we played at Netherdale last week, scoring six tries against Gala, this was a poor display. Our inexperienced youngsters struggled, but Hawick looked a team that wanted it more than we did. “Not only were they superior and more streetwise up front, but their backs looked to have more of a cutting edge with the better quality ball they were receiving. We have now been sucked deep into the relegation danger zone, but one optimistic note is the arrival of New Zealand No.8 Justin Matheson who has played some good representative rugby recently at Hawks Bay.”
Source: The Scotsman, Sunday 5th December 2004
