Hawick 11 - 9 Currie: Relief for Hawick as Currie title hopes fade

THE air of relief that hung over Mansfield Park on Saturday was evidence that Hawick had taken a major step towards Premier One safety next season.

"That was an important win for us against a very strong Currie side and we will be looking to win at Selkirk on Saturday to make sure that we stay up," said coach Derek Armstrong.

"The win after so many close games was long overdue and we managed to shut Currie out. We had to work very hard and I am so pleased for the players. They deserved it."

The result was met with less buoyancy in the Currie camp as coach Ally Donaldson looked at the title slipping away from the champions.

"It is always difficult to beat Hawick on their own ground and we defended well except when we gave away that try. Now we have to pick ourselves up for the rest of the season," he said.

But Hawick's first home victory of the season was soured by a late injury to scrum-half Greg Cottrell, who was stretchered off the field and taken to hospital. "That puts rugby in perspective," said Armstrong.

Currie dominated the first half, but seldom threatened the Hawick line and had to rely on three penalties - two by Hayden Abercrombie in the first and the other by Matthew Scott after the interval - for their only scores.

Hawick put Currie under a lot of pressure after the break and captain Bruce McNeil and Rory Hutton were both stopped short after a series of sustained pick-and-drives.

The only try was scored by centre Gary Johnstone from Craig Robertson's searing crossfield break, and although Hutton missed the conversion, the stand-off banged over the winning penalty six minutes from the end to add to his first-half score.

If it was the forwards who laid the foundations for the win, with McNeil leading by example, the backs ensured that this was a team effort.

Edinburgh coach Rob Moffat, who had released Hutton from his pro contract, watched the game and later admitted: "The door is still open for him to join us."

Scorers: Hawick: Try: Johnstone. Pens: Hutton (2). Currie: Pens: Abercrombie (2), Scott.

Hawick: G Hogg; C Robertson, G Johnstone, A Dunbar, G Anderson; R Hutton, G Cottrell; A Marsh, L Gibson, S Linton, C Charters, M Robertson, N Mactaggart, B McNeil, D Landels. Subs: M Graham, K Davies, D Lowrie, L Niven, M Landels.

Currie: M Scott; H Abercrombie, J Johnstone, A MacMahon, D Fife; A Binikos, R Snedden; J Cox, S Simonsen, A Hamilton, R Wilson, A Best, M Cairns, R Weston, M Entwhistle. Subs: F Scott, N Scobie, S Burton, G Semple, J Smith.

Referee: J Mathew.