Wasteful Muir hang on for win despite suffering late scare

At THE end of this match the announcer thanked the players for their efforts and claimed it had been a great advert for the club game. Perhaps he was watching Hawick YM do their stuff on the other side of the fence because this game was poor fare, a great advert for the joys of crochet.

Admittedly the final few moments at least generated an air of fevered excitement as Hawick threatened to walk away with the points after flanker Keith Davies barged his way over the line six minutes from time. The two-point lead meant that Boroughmuir could not afford to concede so much as a penalty inside their own half but their discipline held.

By winning this match, the visitors returned to Meggetland with the newly-inaugurated Bill McLaren Shield – although the trophy they were presented on the field after the final whistle was actually just a stand-in copy while the real thing is being manufactured – and will now defend it at their next home game. With two losses in the opening two games, Hawick are already looking at a long season, although help is on the horizon. The good news is that Neil Renwick and Rory Hutton are both returning in a week or so from a season in Australia. The bad news is that the latter has injured his knee and isn’t expected to play this side of Christmas, although one club man reckoned he might not play again at all.

“I know we lost out there,” said the ever-optimistic Hawick coach Derek Armstrong, “but I think Bill [McLaren] would have been proud with the effort that the boys put in. They gave 110 per cent out there. I thought our defensive effort in the first half was outstanding and we had our chances to win that game in the last 20 minutes.”

“We have Dundee next weekend so it doesn’t get any easier for us but there are no easy games in this division and that’s the way you want it. We’ll give it our best shot and if it’s not good enough, it’s not good enough.”

Boroughmuir should have had this match wrapped up inside the first hour but, for all the possession and territorial advantage they enjoyed, the Edinburgh side squandered any number of scoring chances, with Seb Visser amongst the worst culprits. All they could manage was three penalties from the boot of fly-half Harry Leonard. The visitors nearly paid a high price for their profligacy. In the final 20 minutes, the Hawick forwards got their team on to the front foot and gaps began to appear in the defence.

Gary Johnstone looked certain to score when the midfield opened up for the Hawick centre only to be scragged on the line by two Muir defenders. A little later, Graeme Anderson appeared to have touched down in the left-hand corner, only for the linesman to rule he’d put a foot in touch. By the time Davies barrelled his way over the line late in the day, the clock was going to beat Hawick even if Boroughmuir’s challenge was faltering.

Scorers: Hawick – Try: Davies. Con: G Hogg. Boroughmuir – Pens: Leonard 3.

Hawick: McColm; G Anderson, G Johnstone, G Hogg, S Anderson; Armstrong, Cottrell; Little, Landels, Linton, Keown, Willison, R Hogg, Davies, McNeil. Replacements: Robertson, Bouglas, Manahari, Mactaggart, Scammell.

Boroughmuir: Visser; Cairns, Hare, Wilson, Webster; Leonard, Johnson; Hislop, Crombie, Fraser, Scott, Davidson, Harvey, Rodger, Rose. Replacements: Jones, Blair, Pringle, McLeod, Warnock.

Referee: J Van der Merwe.