Glasgow Hawks 19 - 15 Ayr: Hawks fly a little higher

Glasgow Hawks 19Ayr 15

Two good teams, perfect conditions and a decent crowd so there were no excuses but for some reason this match between two Scottish club heavyweights never quite got off the ground. Perhaps it was the latent aggression between the west-coast rivals that was never far from bubbling over. Perhaps it was the fact that the starting referee limped off after six minutes and his replacement never quite showed the same authority. The poor man was still lecturing players deep inside the second half when an early yellow card would have ensured a far better spectacle for everyone, players and spectators alike.

It resulted in a scrappy, stop-start game when the only two yellow cards were shown for fighting, with Rory Hamilton and Grant Anderson left to cool their heels for ten minutes in the sin bin. That was just one in a slew of touch judge interventions for various pieces of skullduggery which prevented the game from gaining any momentum and if it hadn't been for the Gossman brothers it would have had none at all.

With Kerr on the wing and Craig playing in the Hawks' 15 shirt, at least the home support had something to shout about when either of the quicksilver brothers got hold of the ball. Both are electric runners and each has the added ability of beating the first defender and, more often than not, the second and third.

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Mike Adamson kicked two early penalties before the Gossman brothers combined to give Hawks the first try of the match. Kerr came off his left wing to make the extra man on the right flank and enable Craig to touch down in the corner. Just as Hawks seemed to have established a decent advantage Ayr struck back. Damien Kelly didn't travel far to score but every try counts just the same and immediately before the half-time break is a useful time to score.

With the wind behind them, the visitors dominated the second half just as Hawks had bossed the first 40. Ross Curle kicked an early penalty which was quickly negated by Adamson's third goal but that was about that. The visitors enjoyed a good few attacking opportunities but they lacked the guile to find a way to the line and, for once in their life, they failed to muscle their way over the line - at least not until it was too late to matter much.

Instead Craig Gossman popped up at the opposite end of the field to carve out Hawks' second try and make the game safe with ten minutes still to play.The fullback rounded his defender like the poor man had grown roots and Joffy White was lurking on the right wing for the scoring pass.

Ayr rescued a losing bonus point with the last play of the match that saw replacement hooker Scott Nimmo burrow over from the same distance as Kelly had after the visiting pack drove the ball into the danger area. Curle's conversion ended the match. Ayr have now lost their first match of the season which promises to be a lot more open than last season's two-horse race.

Scorers: Hawks: Try: C Gossman, White Pen: Adamson (3) Ayr: Try: D Kelly, Nimmo Conv: Curle Pen: Curle

Hawks: C Gossman, White, Kelbrick, Preece, K Gossman; Adamson, Jericevich; Smith, Milligan, Hunter, Hamilton, Kirkland, McKay, Karalus, Miller. Subs from: Strain, Taylor, Hill, Hamilton, Hair.

Ayr: Anderson, Ferguson, Forest, McCallum, Manning; Curle, McFarlane; A Kelly, Adair, Cox, Tippet, D Kelly, Crossan, Colhoun, Dunlop. Subs from: Nimmo, Fenwick, Stewart, Hunter, Steele.

Referee: Van Der Merwe (Tweedale 6 min).