Hawick 33

Edinburgh Accies 0

Atholl Innes

at Mansfield Park

HAWICK swept to a stunning victory at Mansfield Park on Saturday with five tries.

And the high tempo performance leaves Accies fighting for survival.

It was only 7-0 for Hawick at the interval when the score could, and should, have bee, a lot more.

Despite a mini Accies fightback after the break, the Greens regained the initiative to wrap up the points for their play-off hopes.

Hawick coach George Graham said that he was delighted with the result.

he told us: “We played a lot better in the second half, but we cannot afford to wait until then.

"However, I am happy with the performance, and we defended very well when we had to. We dominated up front from one to eight, but the backs could have been a lot more direct.

“The boys are adamant that they scored another couple of tries, but the referee (Tom French) said they were not conclusive enough.”

There was no such joy in the Accies camp.

Coach Iain Berthinussen said that Hawick deserved to be ahead at half-time.

He said: “We had three opportunities on their line in the second half, but we were not accurate enough and we did not take them.

"We just could not built up the pressure.”

What was also pleasing for Hawick was how they kept the home line intact and never conceded a point despite a yellow card in the second half for Daniel Suddon.

Captain Shawn Muir led by example to score the opening try, converted by Ali Weir, in a one-way first half.

Accies failed with a penalty, their only chance, when Callum Ramm pulled his kick wide from 25 metres out.

Logan Gordon Wooley added try number two, converted by Weir, before Accies had their most consistent spell.

But Muir’s second try, and further scores from Andrew Mitchell and replacement Mully Bannerman, plus conversions from Weir and Kirk Ford, completed the most satisfactory of afternoons for Hawick.

Hawick: K. Ford; L. Ferguson, W. Griebenow, A. Mitchell, L. Gordon-Wooley; A. Weir, G. Welsh; S Muir, M. Carryer, C. Bachurzewski, S. Fairbairn, D. Suddon, J. Linton, B. McNeil, S. Graham. Replacements: C. Renwick, D. Johnston, A. Piotrowski, B. Donaldson, M. Bannerman.