MATT VALLANCE @ Old Anniesland
FOR the second week running, Hawks found themselves undone by a card, with Currie staging a great come-back while Paddy Boyer fumed on the naughty step.
In truth, the home team didn’t play well, and at the end, Fin Gillies, their coach, was searching for positives, saying: “Apart from a great display from 18-year-old Paul Cairncross, capped by a fine try, it was a disappointing day for us, and a tough one to take considering we were 14 points up deep in the second-half”.
Opposite number Ben Cairns said: “That we kept going and snatched it at the death is a compliment to our belief. We chucked a lot of ball away, but kept believing and kept going. It was nice to win in the last minute, after losing at the same point against Hawick a couple of weeks ago”.
Currie scored first, Harvey Elms bursting through for a try, then mid-way through a scrappy first half skipper Brendan McGroarty replied in kind and George Horne’s conversion put Hawks ahead. Not for long, however, as Cameron Hutchison restored Currie’s lead, with Elms converting.
Hawks went in at the break with a two-point lead, after Horne supported Earland Oag’s great break for a try which he converted himself, and then with the final kick of the half, Jack Steele booted a penalty from half-way to make it 17-12.
Five minutes into the second half, Kerr Gossman scored his second long-range try of the season, to stretch the Hawks’ lead, but Currie shrugged it off with Ben Robbins responding with a score of his own almost straight from the restart.
Slack Currie handling in their own 22 was punished when Cairncross intercepted to set up a Hornes conversion which made it 31-17 for the hosts.
Still, they could not kill-off their visitors and when Cameron Gray chased his own kick-ahead and scored, in spite of interference from Paddy Boyer – who was yellow-carded for his troubles – Currie sensed they had a chance. Off a close-range scrum, Charlie Shiel then sent Gray down the relatively unguarded narrow side to bring the visitors to within a score, and with Hawks still reeling, Tom Gordon burst up the front of a line-out for the winning try.
Hawks then attacked at the death, but as so-often in this game, poor handling undid them as Currie held out for the narrowest of wins.
Teams –
Hawks: E Oag; J Bulumakau, R Beattie, B McGroarty, K Gossman; J Steele, G Horne; S Findlay, P Cairncross, B Cullinane; A Linton, A Kirkland; A Redmaybe, G Stewart, M Fagerson. Replacements (all used): S Rodgers, C Brodie, S Thomson, P Boyer, D Milne
Currie: H Elms; B Robbins, R Nelson, C Hutchison, C Gray; J Forbes, R Snedden; J Cox, G Carson; H Bain, S Ainslie; L Crosbie, S McGinley, R Weston. Replacements: (all used) AP McWilliam, R Paterson, T Gordon, M McPhillips, C Shiel.
Scorers –
Hawks: Tries: B McGroarty, G Horne, K Gossman, P Cairncross, ; Conversions: G Horne (4); Penalty goal: J Steele
Currie: Tries: H Elms, C Hutchison, B Robbins, C Gray (2), T Gordon; Conversion: H Elms (1)
Scoring sequence (Hawks first): 0-5 : 5-5 : 7-5 : 7-10 : 7-12 : 12-12 : 14-12 : 17-12 (h-t)
22-12 : 24-12 : 24-17 : 29-17 : 31-17 : 31-22 : 31-27 : 31-32.
Yellow cards –
Hawks: Boyer
Referee: Kevin White
Man-of-the-Match: Currie winger Cameron Gray gets the nod for his two electric tries which turned the game in his side’s avour
Talking point: On a day for handling rugby, the number of occasions on which both sides managed to lose the ball in contact or simply give it away with poor knock-ons was amazing. This made for a scrappy game.