Glasgow Hawks 19 - 13 Heriot’s: Wright’s relief as Hawks rise above ‘flat’ opponents

THERE was a palpable sense of relief, leavened with a healthy layer of satisfaction, about Hawks’ coach Peter Wright after his side won the battle of the teams languishing second and third bottom.

“We needed to come out and win,” he said. “The way we’ve been playing has been nervous and we are not playing with any confidence. Some of our performances this season have deserved victory and some haven’t, but this one did, so it was important to get that victory.”

In fact, Hawks dominated the majority of the contest but their lowly position has, indeed, caused nerves to flutter. In the end, convincing command of territory and possession saw them home with tries by Tom Steven and Ross Miller, complemented by a trio of penalties from Mikey Martin. But it should have been a win of a much greater margin, as white-line fever resulted in some poor finishing and decision-making.

For Heriot’s, a try, conversion and penalty, all from Graham Wilson – the last of which earned a losing bonus point – were never going to be enough, and their cause was not helped by two players being sin-binned, one in each half. The Edinburgh outfit were, in truth, outplayed, a fact recognised by their coach, Graham Marshall. “We’re a wee bit flat at the moment. We gave away a lot of penalties in the first half and that comes down to lack of confidence.”

Scorers: Hawks – Tries: Steven, Miller. Pens: Martin (3). Heriot’s – Try: Wilson. Con: Wilson; Pen Wilson.

Glasgow Hawks: C Gossman; T Steven, D McCall, Mikey Martin, K Gossman; D Karaitiana, P Jerecevich; S Findlay, G Davies, G Hunter, R McKay, N Campbell, A Barbieri, S Leckie, R Miller. Subs: C Taylor, J MacFarlane, R Hamilton, G MacDonald, K Hamilton.

Heriot’s: C Goudie; A Scott, C Ferguson, J Kohn, M Learmonth; S Hidalgo Clyne, G Wilson; A Dymock, K Bryce, J Ward, Rory Wilson, C J Ozazuwa, M Reid, R Cessford, J Hill. Subs: S Mustard, S Cessford, J Diunanayacavou, M Nimmo, G Lawson.

Referee: A McMenemy