Hawick overcame Selkirk at Mansfield Park yesterday in Round 9 of the Scottish Premiership, in a hotly contested encounter, the first 40 minutes of which had all the hallmarks of a classic Border Derby.
With both teams looking to assert themselves in both the tight and the loose, the early exchanges were peppered with early handling errors, before Connor Sutherland crossed the line for the first try, following a typically determined break. In what was a tight first half, Selkirk replied with a long range penalty and the half drew to a close with Hawick leading by 7-3.
The second half opened in frustrating style for the Greens, when Selkirk opened their try account. Following a terrific Hawick surge into their opponents 22, the ball was turned over and kicked down the Park…..a wicked bounce took the ball away from the Hawick defence and straight into the arms of the oncoming Selkirk winger. Good footwork and quick hands saw Selkirk cross to take the lead 7-8 with an unconverted try.
Hawick however we’re now starting to impose themselves on the Selkirk pack and with the introduction of the Greens bench squad and a couple of positional switches, some lovely fluent interplay between backs and forwards, bore fruit with tries from firstly Morgan Tait and then Kirk Ford…taking the score out to 21-8.
A flashpoint, right into front of the stand, midway through the second half, led to Selkirk receiving a second yellow for a dangerous high and no arms tackle on Charlie Welsh. This seemed to galvanise the Greens, and together with the news filtering through that both Marr & Currie were under the cosh and trailing in their games, it brought a renewed determination from the lads as they really turned up the heat. Some outstanding handling and an increased tempo in their play saw the Hawick lads cross for a further two tries, from the inform Andrew Mitchell and the ever hungry Morgan Tait, who completed his double. Final score Hawick 36-8 Selkirk.
With this bonus point win secured, and their nearest rivals defeated, Hawick now move atop the Premiership for the first time this season, albeit with the slenderest of leads, however with the Force scoring a superb victory 47-7 on Friday night, and also moving to the top of the Border Junior League table …..it’s been a good weekend for the men in green.
No-one however will be getting ahead of themselves, and with a tricky visit next week to Balgray to face an inform Glasgow Hawks….it will be business as usual on Tuesday evening at training for our coaches and players. 🏉💚
