Hawick 27

Boroughmuir 20

Atholl Innes at Mansfield Park

HE coached Gala to success, and now the maroon jersey is a winning green one.

George Graham has made Mansfield Park his second home, and there will be envious eyes cast the 18 miles from Netherdale as Hawick lift their game in a brave bid to retain their Premiership status.

Arguably, Hawick took another step to safety in the Premiership for the victory gave head coach Graham his side’s fifth successive win aided by two penalty tries and a battling second-half performance into the strong wind.

His inspirational coaching has transformed a Greens side going nowhere - on Saturday they lifted their game to new heights to secure a victory that has stabilised their game.

Rising water from the River Teviot threatening the clubrooms had dissipated by Saturday and it was Graham’s troops who opened the floodgates.

Graham said: "We fought well, but there are tough games to go yet.

"I think we are safe from the relegation spot, and I was delighted to get the win.

"But we have to keep going and picking up the odd point and the boys are working really hard to get their reward."

A succession of injuries led to 10 extra minutes awarded by referee Mike Adamson and it was Boroughmuir’s final score, try and conversion, after massive pressure that gave the visitors a crucial bonus point as they showed great resilience against a tough tackling Hawick defence to score with the final ‘play’ of the game.

There was also several minutes of added time in the first half when penalty tries in 35 and 40 minutes added to a Lee Armstrong penalty gave Hawick a 17-8 lead, Dale Robertson scoring for the visitors and Clark Laidlaw kicking a penalty.

Hawick played to their strengths up front after the interval following a try from Tom Gracie.

Bruce McNeil drove over in the left-hand corner and replacement Fraser Renwick added a fourth, but the wind denied Armstrong’s conversion efforts.

Every point was vital, and after uncontested scrums, the Hawick defence was finally breached by Rob Ure, who raced over for a try and Ciaran White added the conversion.

Hawick: D. Graham; R. Combe, K. Davies, D. Buckley, G. Munro; L. Armstrong, G. Cottrell; S. Muir, M. Carryer, N. Little, D. Redpath, C. Hamilton, S. Graham, B. McNeil, J. Hardie. Replacements: F. Renwick, M. Landels, A. Baillie, R. Gibson, A. Weir.