Late Renwick double secures promotion for Hawick

The Mansfield Park men had the target of taking three championship points from their final three games to ensure the step-up but attaining their goal with two games to spare.

"We wanted to bounce back to Division One and we've achieved this" said head coach Gerry McGuinness, adding : "This Hawick team has worked hard and in the end done very well".

While Hawick's success this season has been achieved without resort to importing players, that's a situation that may have to change as they face up to the harsher realities of life in the quicker lane. Certainly they will need to show more than they did on Saturday if they want to re-establish themselves in the top division.

Seemingly in a commanding position after leading 18-0 with tries by Gary Johnstone and Neil Renwick, who also landed two penalty goals and a conversion, Hawick did their best to scuttle their chances of victory.

A loose pass in midfield gave GHA centre Niall Cassie an interception try and an easy conversion for Jim Noonan.

New Zealander Noonan then put over three penalty goals and a drop goal for a 19-18 lead only for Renwick to rescue the situation with two late kicks.

Meanwhile, Stirling County took another upward surge in their roller-coaster existence at the weekend when they clinched promotion back to the top flight at the first time of asking.

Ben Addison was the hat-trick hero as the Bridgehaugh side crushed struggling Dunfermline 46-19 at McKane Park – and now they want to complete the job by winning the Premier Two crown.

Two Brian Archibald penalties steadied the County nerves before he converted Graham Lindsay's try. Archibald then underlined his all-round skills by setting up and goaling a touchdown from Ben Addison. Addison completed his double after the restart and made sure of the bonus point ten minutes later.

Benji Barsnti and Johnnie Hope completed the rout, the rest of the tally coming from the accurate boot of Archibald.

County will now aim to win two of their last three matches, which would snuff out the challenge of Hawick and make sure of the title.

First, however, they turn their focus on the home Scottish Cup quarter-final against Heriot's on Saturday.

Having already accounted for Glasgow Hawks and Selkirk, they will be confident of notching a treble by claiming the scalp of the holders.

That will not be easy, however. Heriot's cruised through with a 36-21 success against Dundee HSFP at Mayfield – thanks to a stunning second-half display.

Prop Wullie Blacklock emerged as the unlikely hero as he snatched a try double. The other Heriot's counters came from Colin Goudie, Marc Teague and Jason Syme, with Greg Rutherford adding the rest with the boot.

Lindsay Graham and Andy Dymock claimed the Taysiders' touchdowns, while Barry Jones landed three penalties and a conversion.

In Premier One, Glasgow Hawks triumphed 23-21 to inflict a fresh dose of relegation worry on Edinburgh Accies.

Hawks were indebted to stand-in playmaker Andy White as they boosted their quest to finish in the top four.

White, deputising for Duncan Weir, slotted three penalties and converted Craig Gossman's two first half tries. David Rattray and Steve Wilson went over for Accies, with Gav Douglas slotting four goals. However, their comeback bid hit the buffers when Ruaridh Bonner missed a crucial last-gasp penalty.