Saturday 17th October 2009

Glasgow Hawks 21 v 17 Boroughmuir

Reporter: Mark Furnivall

It is becoming a familiar cry for those hardy souls who follow Boroughmuir but the mistakes must be eradicated. This mid-table battle was fought between two teams struggling for form and consistency and was there for the taking for the first side to show a modicum of composure, That it was, in the end, the home side that stayed error free long enough to grab the points was hugely disappointing for the 'Muir faithful.

Far too often over the last few weeks 'Muir have worked hard to get themselves into promising positions but been unable to retain possession long enough to break down the opposition defence. Thus it was again today. Far too often over the last few weeks 'Muir have missed or fallen off crucial, first up tackles allowing the opposition to gain inroads into 'Muir territory. Thus it was again today. Far too often over the last few weeks 'Muir have been slow out of the blocks and found themselves trailing early in the game. Thus it was again today.

Given that both teams had the same win-loss ratio at kick-off, and the history of fast and entertaining games between these two sides, a close and exciting encounter was anticipated. Close it was - exciting it was anything but. The 'Muir error count started from the kick-off when Joni Hare and Euan Matheson collided and the ball was knocked-on. A technical infringement at the resultant scrum saw Hawks awarded a penalty which impressive young stand-off Duncan Weir kicked from just inside the 'Muir half to put the home side ahead.

'Muir's lethargy continue when Kerr Gossman, later named Man of the Match, beat Ed Mills on the outside and only desperate cover defence by Malcolm Clapperton saved the day. This passage of play saw the last of captain Matheson as he limped from the field after just 6 minutes.

With 'Muir unable to break out of defence Hawks captain and tight-head prop Nick Cox ran through another ineffective 'Muir tackle to score beside the posts, gifting Weir an easy conversion. With less than 10 minutes gone Hawks held a 10 - 0 lead and looked as though they would make easy work of their visitors. That they failed to do so says much for the effort and determination that 'Muir started to show and some sparkling if sporadic back play allied to some steely defence at times saw the capital side claw their way back into the game.

Weir missed another long range penalty attempt after James Fish was caught playing the ball on the ground but soon after Hawks went over the top at the breakdown and Elgan O'Donnell narrowed the gap by 3 points. Still 'Muir allowed Hawks deep into their territory - particularly when this time Joni Hare failed to get to grips with Grant Strang from a set scrum and the big number 8 rampaged 30 metres towards the 'Muir line before the cover defence brought him down.

Weir missed a further attempt at goal before 'Muir upped their game and started to pressure their hosts. Centre James Fish punched a hole in the home defence and, with the help of Shaun McMurchy the ball was swung right but Tom Bury put his chip ahead straight into touch.

Lost possession by Hawks was quickly snaffled by Shaun McMurchy and when the ball was worked wide to Lynton Brinck the big back rower burst the first tackle then fed Rob Cairns on his inside. The winger outstripped Robbie Hair and went round under the posts allowing O'Donnell to convert to level the scores. There were chances for each side before the half-time break  but on the balance of play 'Muir would have been the happier team to be level at the break.

The second period opened as had the first, with 'Muir falling off tackles and turning over ball but Hawks unable to take advantage. Returning Glasgow professional Max Evans showed how long he has been out as he struggled to make an impact in the Hawks midfield.

'Muir gradually worked their way upfield, often led by the impressive Nick Fraser making some bullocking runs, and when Fergus Pringle found himself in space in the opposition 22 he knew he would not make the line so tried a grubber kick with Hawks fielded to snuff out the danger.

It was becoming more and more obvious as the game slipped into stalemate the one moment of inspiration could turn the game in either teams favour but mistakes aplenty were the order of the day in this error strewn contest. With 17 minutes remaining Fraser was sent to the sin-bin as the referee Cammy Rudkin, who had a fine game, finally ran out of patience with the constant infringements and brandished his yellow card.

With Lynton Brinck withdrawn to make room for Dave O'Gorman Hawks found the chink in 'Muir's armour they sought and stole a try down the blind side. Scrum half Euan Morrison fed blind side winger Kerr Gossman from the ruck on 'Muir's 22 and with no flanker to cover the 18 year old had only Graeme Blackhall to beat. The 'Muir substitute slipped as he tried to make the tackle allowing the youngster in for the unconverted try. This was quickly followed by another penalty for Weir, Shaun McMurchy playing the ball on the ground, and 'Muir found themselves trailing by 8 points.

'Muir refused to concede defeat and gave themselves a glimmer of hope when Ed Mills scored in the corner after 76 minutes. Elgan O'Donnell made the break and Tom Bury worked his way up to the Hawks 22. His pass was behind Mills but somehow the Irishman clutched onto the ball and dived in for the score. Elgan O'Donnell should be made to take all his conversions from the right hand touchline as yet again he sailed over a kick from that angle.

Just one point behind the 'Muir faithful dared to hope but Duncan Weir had the last word with an injury time penalty to secure the points after Blackhall was isolated on half way and penalised for holding on.

All in all, 'Muir could have won this match. Both sides made far too many errors to satisfy their coaches and it could have gone either way until 'Muir were reduced to 14 men. The 8 points Hawks scored during that penalty and the 10 points they were gifted before 'Muir got going were enough to kill the Edinburgh side's hopes. The most frustrating element is that their is definitely a good team in there, but at the moment they are struggling to break out.

Boroughmuir : Elgan O'Donnell: Tom Bury, Malcolm Clapperton, James Fish, Ed Mills: Greg Cottrell, Stuart McGee: Nick Fraser, Shaun McMurchy Justin Va'a: Greig Scott, Mike Stalley: Lynton Brinck, Euan Matheson (c), Joni Hare. Subs Used: Dave O'Gorman, Fergus Pringle, Greg Jones, Rob Cairns, Graeme Blackhall

Match Photos