Hawick unbeaten in 11
Dec
Hawick extended their unbeaten run to eleven matches with a workmanlike but
rather unconvincing win over Aberdeen Grammar and kept the prospect of a
swift return to Premier One very much on track. A gap is now starting to
appear at the top of the league with Hawick and Stirling County now thirteen
points clear of their nearest rivals Gala which makes next week's encounter
all the more important. With the visitiors being trounced last week by 30-0
at home to Peebles, they were out to make amends and turned up at Mansfield
Park with a much stronger side. On a very cold day and with Mansfield Park
being shrouded in freezing fog for most of the match, a good sized crowd
turned up despite the weather.
There were few clear cut try scoring opportunities from both sides and with
cold fingers, a lot of dropped passes and knock ons which made the match
rather a stop start affair. Hawick took the lead early on with two David
Lowrie penalties. Hawick were reduced to thirteen men with both Matt Landels
and Sean Linton taking ten minutes rest but Aberdeen were unable to
capitalise and the score remained at 6-0 intil half time.
The second half was played in much the same way as the first, a Graham Hogg
penalty extended Hawick's lead but Aberdeen were back in the hunt with two
penalties of their own to reduce Hawick's lead to 9-6. Craig Charters
crashed over for the only try of the match after a lot of pressure from
Hawick on the Aberdeen line. Another Aberdeen penalty took the score to 16-9
and Aberdeen seemed to have made a vital try scoring break but the referee
deemed it a forward pass. Hawick reached full time with another four league
points and all roads now lead to Netherdale next Saturday.
Team:- 1. Ali Marsh, 2. Matt Landels, 3. Sean Linton, 4. David Lowrie, 5.
Craig Charters, 6. Ross Gibson, 7. Danny Landels, 8. Bruce McNeil, 9. Kevin
Reid, 10. Dean McCracken, 11. Colin Murray, 12. Graham Hogg, 13. John
Coutts, 14. Lee Armstrong, 15. Gary Johnstone
16. Rory MacPherson, 17. Michael Graham, 18. Hue Scammell, 19. Keiron
Willison
