‘Arrogant’ Hawks grounded by Accies but snatch last-gasp draw

A LAST-gasp try from No 8 Ross Miller secured an equal share of the points for Hawks at Raeburn Place on Saturday afternoon. To those who were not at the game, this might look like a good result for newly promoted Accies – but the home team, and particularly their outstanding open-side flanker Robin Snape, deserved more than a draw, a fact that visiting coach Peter Wright was quick to concede.

“We were extremely fortunate to get anything out of that game. We showed a bit of character at the end, but I feel for Accies because they were by far the better team in every area apart from the scrum,” he said.

“So it is a great result for us, but from a performance point of view it was a really bad afternoon. If we want to be contending for the title or even British and Irish Cup qualification those sorts of performances are unacceptable, both individually and collectively.

“It was not our ability that was the problem; it was our attitude, our desire and our work-rate. I think we were arrogant. We knew that Accies had just come up from Premier Two and were beaten last week by Ayr, so we assumed it was just a case of turning up and getting the points.

“I hate that, it is not the type of team I want to be involved in, and I have told our players that in no uncertain terms. We will not disrespect teams like that in the future because Gala will kill us if we play like that next week.”

The general pattern of this game was established in the first minute when the mercurial Gavin Douglas cut a great line off Ruaridh Bonner and split the Hawks defence wide open. The former Hawick man seems to be back in form in terms of vision and game awareness, but he now lacks that yard of pace which made him such an effective operator in his heyday. On this occasion he could not beat the last line of defence and Accies had to wait another 24 minutes until they got off the mark with a Greg Campbell try.

The lock rumbled over after a couple of pick and drives from the base of a scrum close to the Hawks line. It was appropriate recompense for a near miss a few minutes earlier, when a lung-busting break by Campbell was thwarted by a heroic last ditch tackle from Miller.

Accies were clearly the hungrier side, demonstrated by three ruck turnovers in quick succession. The incorrigibly vociferous Wright, and his trusty sidekick Jamie Dempsey, were desperate to let referee David Changleng know their thoughts on why Accies were so dominant in this area, but the head coach admitted afterwards that his players have to learn to adapt to the way the game is being officiated if they want to be successful.

Peter Jericevich narrowed the gap before half-time with a penalty but this was only a brief interruption to the general flow of the game. Douglas unpicked Hawks’ defence twice at the start of the second half, but on the first occasion he was squeezed into touch, and on the second his offload from the deck towards Tom Drennan didn’t go to hand.

Sam Atkin and Johnny McSorley also came close before Accies’ dominance was eventually rewarded when Jamie Sole sucked in Hawks’ midfield defence before releasing Iain Berthinussen to touch down by the posts. This provided the jolt Hawks needed, and replacement wing Craig Gossman made a compelling case for being included in the starting XV next week with a searing break and a fine solo try.

When Rory McKay flopped over from a driven lineout, you fancied Hawks to go on and win this match at a canter, but Accies showed admirable fortitude to recapture the lead through an Atkin try following a Berthinussen break. Bonner converted from wide on the left and a penalty from in front of the posts a few minutes later meant the visitors needed a converted try if they were going to head home with anything more than a losing bonus point.

The home lineout had been far from authoritative all afternoon and this proved their undoing. A mix-up between jumpers, lifters and thrower left the boys in blue and white stripes looking more like a line-dancing troop than a well drilled forward pack, and gifted Hawks possession from which Miller eventually scored the try, converted by Jericevich to snatch a scarcely deserved draw.

Scorers: Edin Accies – Tries: Campbell, Berthinussen, Atkin. Cons - Bonner 2. Pen: Bonner. Glasgow Hawks – Tries: C Gossman, McKay, Miller. Cons: Jericevich 2. Pen: Jericevich.

Edinburgh Accies: J Sole; M Coupar, G Douglas, I Berthinussen, S Atkin; R Bonner, A Black; D MacLeod (J McSorley 24), M Liness, C Murray, G Campbell, A Graham, D Teague, R Snape, T Drennan.

Glasgow Hawks: C Gossman (K Hamilton 51); T Steven, P Robinson (C Gossman 55), D Kelbrick, J Wright (K Gossman 43); M Martin, P Jericevich; P Henderson (J McFarlane 61), E Milligan, C Williamson, A Kirkland, D Ferguson, R McKay, R Hamilton (l Kinsey 40), R Miller.