PETER Dods kicked goals for Gala, Scotland and the British Lions, and now son Craig is following in his dad’s boots.

But they will come no more valuable as the drop goal, which gave Gala a fortuitous victory at Mansfield Park on Saturday.

The game seemed to be out of Gala’s reach with the clock counting down into the sixth minute of injury time on referee Graeme Wells’ watch.

It was one final surge by Gala, who had scored three tries in the opening 24 minutes and seemed to be coasting to victory, when the roof caved in on Hawick.

In one desperate finale, Dods took up position to slot home the drop goal and spark off relief and celebrations among the players and supporters.

Dods, who has been given the full-back role and kicking duties by coach George Graham, admitted that it had been too close for comfort.

It was the last kick of the match, and the No. 15 kept his cool to slot the winning points “I was delighted to keep my nerve and see the kick sail through, but I was disappointed that it came to that,” he said.

“We know in the second half that we did not deserve to win, but I know that sides will come here and find it difficult to get a result.” Gala scored three tries in 24 minutes to rattle the home side, which played second fiddle to a visiting team full of confidence.

But Gala took their feet off the throttle, slipped back into a low gear, and then struggled to hit their earlier form. Hawick weathered the early calamities and, to be truthful, were denied what at one stage was a memorable win.

Gala Head Coach George Graham said: “I’m furious with the players and the way we played in the second half.

“We scored three really good tries in the first half by doing what we practice. They are a dangerous side and they have some really good runners and they are an abrasive pack.

“If you get on top of teams you have got to stay on top of them and put them away. And I think if we had come out in the second half and scored first we would have put them away.

“But all credit to them, I think Nicky (Walker) and Scott (MacLeod) and Roddy Deans are doing a great job here. That’s probably one of the toughest, if not the toughest, games against Hawick we’ve had in the last 10 meetings.

“But I still think we should have beat them by a bigger margin. I’m obviously content with the win.” There was major disbelief and frustration in the Hawick ranks after the team had come back from a 3-17 deficit and contained Gala to a penalty and drop goal after the break.

Assistant coach Roddy Deans said: “We are gutted. We were pretty slow out of the traps, but managed to weather the storm.” Gala exploded into action when Euan Dods got his hands on a pass from Gary Graham to stretch over the line for the third-minute try, converted by Craig Dods.

Hawick pulled three points back from a penalty by Matty Douglas.

Gala struck hard and fast from the kick-off when Craig Dods squeezed in at the right-hand corner before the visitors took a scrum when awarded a penalty and the drive to the line saw Luke Pettie touch down.

Lindsay Gibson scored from close range to be followed with Douglas’ second penalty to trail by only six points.

Craig Dods earned Gala a breather with a penalty before the Hawick revival put Gala on the back foot. Scott McLeod beat the cover for a try in the left-hand corner and then Greg Cottrell burrowed over to give his side the lead for the first time.

Hawick seemed almost over the finishing line as a combination of solid defence and tight marking kept Gala out and it was inevitable that there would be plenty of injury time as Craig Dods put himself 'in the pocket’ to drop the goal with the last kick of the contest to give Gala its 10th win in a row over their great rivals.

MacLeod said: “Hawick deserved to win the game, we stuck in there but it wasn’t to be I’m afraid. We’ve had a couple like that - Heriot’s was like that as well, we had three tries disallowed in the last five minutes against Heriot’s - so it’s disappointing. But I can’t fault the boys, I thought they tried tremendously hard, after a bad start we knuckled down and got into it.” Hawick: Lee Armstrong; Scott Peffers, Nikki Walker, Gary Johnstone, Scott McLeod; Matthew Douglas, Greg Cottrell; Shawn Muir, Lindsay Gibson, Matt Landles, Mike McKee, Finlay Simpson, Bruce McNeil, Rory Scott and Keith Davies. Replacements: Ross Graham, Stuart Graham, Shaun Fairbairn and Sean Goodfellow.

Gala: C. Dods; G. Somerville, E. Scott, A. Emond, G. Young; D. O’Hagan, George Graham; L. Pettie, R. Anderson, C. Mackintosh, C. Weir, O. Palepoi, Gary Graham, E. Dods, S. Cairns. Replacements: G. Robertson, J. Irvine, T. Weir, R. Jeffries, K. Young.