GHA 19-24 Hawick: Hawick secure Premiership promotion after nervy win

"This was our goal and we've made it. We can relax now," said the Greens' backs coach Deek Armstrong, who watched nervously as Hawick, after a promising start to the game, lost their lead. "We let them come back into the game and they could certainly have won it," he added.

Hawick will not look back on their promotion-winning game as a classic performance. For too much of the game they committed unforced errors, particularly kicking out of hand. Fortunately for them, GHA were equally culpable of erratic play.

The Greens' cause, however, was steadied with a reassuring performance from veteran scrum-half Kevin Reid, who recently surpassed Alistair Cranston's record number of appearances for Hawick. Tighthead prop Alistair Marsh will also claim credit with three strikes against the head at vital times.

As for GHA, who were still in with a slight chance of winning promotion, credit must be given to them for hitting back after trailing 18-0 shortly after the break and almost winning the game.

It was Hawick who scored first with a penalty goal by full back Neil Renwick. Their superiority was quickly challenged, however, with a clever chip kick from GHA scrum-half Murray Houston which, but for a wicked bounce, would surely have brought a try for winger Ruari O'Keefe.

Almost immediately Hawick demonstrated how to take chances, centre John Coutts using his deceptive pace in a run out of defence to breach the GHA backline, before delivering a perfectly-timed pass to Renwick that allowed the full-back to score on the overlap before adding the difficult conversion.

Two minutes into the second half Renwick added to his points tally with a kick at goal. It counted though, as more emphatically did a solo effort from Hawick winger Gary Johnstone, the Scotland Under-19 squad member taking an attempted clearance kick before side-stepping his way past a duo of defenders.

But just as Hawick seemed to be pulling away, the Greens committed a midfield error that gave GHA centre Niall Cassie an interception and a run to the posts, leaving Jim Noonan with an easy conversion.

GHA's fightback continued with three successive Noonan penalty goals to reduce Hawick's fragile lead to two points.

The visitors' nerves were left unsteadied when Renwick was off target with a penalty attempt, a costly miss that was not replicated a minute later when Noonan calmly dropped a goal to give GHA a one point advantage.

Hawick quickly countered with a Renwick penalty and then widened the gap with yet another successful kick from the full back for a 24-19 lead. GHA had a chance to hit back with a lineout in the corner, only for Hawick's forwards to resist the home side's efforts to force drive over for a try, leaving Hawick jubilant and relieved.