National Shield: Hawick YM left with underdog tag
IT is strange that any side who has won 23 out of 23 should go into any match as underdogs, but that is the position Hawick YM find themselves in ahead of this afternoon's National Shield final (2pm).
The Borderers have had a great season under the tutelage of the experienced Jammy McFarlane, sweeping all before them in National Two to secure the title. They will be full of confidence heading into the match with Lasswade as a result, but the Midlothian men themselves are on a high having won the National One title seven days ago to complete their fourth promotion in five years.
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Hide AdHawick YM back-row Craig Robson said: "We have all really enjoyed being part of the team this season. Last year was a bit of a struggle in terms of numbers and to be honest we did well just to stay in National Two, but during pre-season a lot of guys joined the club or came back from elsewhere. Once we won our first few matches we thought we were on the way to a good season, but we could not have imagined we would come into a Murrayfield final undefeated."
For YM expect Lee Armstrong to pull the strings from stand-off, while Dean McCracken is a quality performer in the centre and captain Billy Lilly is one of the few survivors from the team that lost to Perthshire in the Bowl final seven years ago.
Lasswade have won 24 out of the 26 matches they have played this season and coach Dave Cockburn hopes they can defend the title they won 12 months ago."This group of boys just keeps growing in confidence and I could not have asked more from them this season. We are buzzing after winning the league recently," he said.
The main man to watch out for in the Lasswade line-up is scrum-half Neil Clark who has scored a hatful of tries this term and has forged a good understanding with Nick Wood at stand-off.
The back-row of Richard Borthwick, Craig Quigley and Gavin Brown will also be key with the latter having recovered from a broken nose to start at No 8.
Lasswade
15 J Carmichael
14 K Smith
13 J Elliot
12 B Hennessey
11 N Gray
10 N Wood
9 N Clark
1 D Robertson
2 G Cook
3 M Billingham (c)
4 D Grant
5 D Hearn
6 R Borthwick
8 G Brown
7 C Quigley
Subs
16 J Taylor
17 R Mackenzie
18 N Durie
19 G Sharp
20 B Smith
21 A Elliot
22 R Gladstone
Hawick YM
15 A Weir
14 C Ritson
13 S McLeod
12 D McCracken
11 G Despot
10 L Armstrong
9 B Campbell
1 B Lilly (c)
2 G Douglas
3 A Turnbull
4 S Mabon
5 L Mallin
6 C Robson
8 R Gibson
7 S Hill
Subs
16 N McColm
17 G Welsh
18 S Despot
19 G Cannon
20 R Halliday
21 R Taylor
22 J Tinlin