Rugby: Hawks edge out Heriot's as Wilson's radar goes awry

Long after his Heriot's rugby team-mates had retired to the showers, Graham Wilson remained out on Goldenacre polishing his goal-kicking routine.

A 20-22 defeat by Glasgow Hawks really did come down to shots at goal and any realistic assessment is bound to centre around chances squandered. On both sides, though.

How ironic, then, that the only goal-kick Hawks succeeded with after a combination of marksmen had missed four times came with a conversion by Andy White at the death which denied Heriot's anything other than a losing bonus point.

But that would be scant consolation to Wilson, pictured below, whose catharsis hinted at not only perfectionism but the fact that, as captain, he had expected to give a stronger lead than one in which his four penalties went askew.

Saturday's tricky, swirling, wind was probably the main reason why a player who, on his previous home appearance had claimed all 26 of his side's points in a win over Melrose, had come up short. However, the match did display some exciting talent for the national cause. Step forward Struan Dewar, a 21-year-old elite development forward attached to Edinburgh but among a number of prospects benefiting from a prolonged spell of premiership rugby.

"Struan was fantastic," said Heriot's coach Bob McKillop, who referred to the match as a "self-inflicted defeat". "Struan used to drift in and out of play and be quite loose in his approach."

Dewar's contributions included sharp reactions to the loose ball and terrier-like tackling.

McKillop added: "Now Struan is consistently performing and that might have something to do with enjoying being part of the club environment.

"The big question concerns his best back row position. He has pace and can also jump at the line-out. Where best to use an awful lot of talent?"

For Peter Wright, there was dual satisfaction as both the winning Hawks coach and premiership division one club's rep on the SRU.

Wright said: "We were delighted to reverse last season's last-kick defeat at Goldenacre, especially getting a four-try bonus point. Heriot's made it very difficult with their defence and the game must surely have offered good value"

There were times when Hawks' attackers seemed most committed to letting Heriot's off the hook with even a 4:1 overlap wasted.

It was not unknown either for bulky forwards to resort to bizarre grubber kicks but maybe that was a sign of frustration at the way in which the likes of wingers Max Nimmo and Glenn Bryce put themselves about. Bryce produced the cover tackle of the day in corner-flagging back to reel in David Milne and soon after Heriot's extended a 13-5 interval lead to 20-5 when Jamie Symie produced the off-load of the day - a superb behind-the-back pass - when putting CJ Osazuwa clear from 30 metres out.

Hopefully, amid all the attention paid to academy programmes, there is room to acknowledge such skill while Max Learmonth, just 20 but no longer eligible for age-group rugby, again signalled his hunger for the pro level with a fifth try from centre in six outings.

However, McKillop admitted: "I'm pleased with the way we got stuck in physically but we do need to be a wee bit sharper mentally."

Within ten minutes, both sides had missed kickable penalties and the die was cast.

But despite being under the cosh for spells, Heriot's pulled away with a Wilson penalty and a try by Max Learmonth from Gregor Hunter's off-load on either side of the first of two tries from visiting No 8 Ross Miller.

Each half ended with a player in the sin-bin. The first was Bart Karalus for Hawks, whose departure brought three points from Wilson's boot.

Surging to 20-5, it was match for Heriot's to lose. That they did was down to formidable close-range barges by Adrian Smith, then Ross Miller again before - finally - Karalus exploited Wullie Blacklock's yellow card for deliberately coming in at the side of a ruck.

Cue Andy White's late conversion from just wide of the posts which keeps Hawks in second place behind Ayr and Heriot's a slightly precarious seventh with three weeks before a split sees the top eight move forward to contest the title. Goal-kicks will only get more important.

Scorers:

Heriot's: Tries: Learmonth, Osazuwa. Conversions: Wilson (2). Penalties: Wilson (2).

Glasgow Hawks: Tries: Miller (2),Smith, Karalus. Conversion: A White.

Heriot's: C Goudie, G Bryce, M Learmonth, G Hunter, M Nimmo, C Ferguson , G Wilson, captain, A Dymock, S Burnett, G Cameron, C Osazuwa, J Hill, J Parker, J Syme, S Dewar. Subs: K Bryce, W Blacklock, R Martin, O Brown, P Saunders.

Glasgow Hawks: R Hair, J White, D Kelbrick, T Preece, K Gossman, A White, K Hamilton, A Smith, E Milligan, G Hunter, R Hamilton, A Kirkland, R MacKay, R Miller, B Karalus. Subs: G Strain, C Taylor,G Strang, T Steven, D Milne.

Referee: Mr J Matthew (SRU).