After confirmation from the Musselburgh groundsman on Saturday morning, that the pitch had thawed sufficiently, Hawick travelled to Stoneyhill to take on the men from the ‘Burgh’ in round 16 of the Premiership. Although still firm, the pitch comfortably ‘took a stud’ and although very heavy underfoot, both teams were raring to go.

Hawick having benefitted from a tough physical encounter the week before, hit the ground running, and made their intentions clear straight from the off. Strong carries and furious tackling by the Greens put Musselburgh on the back foot and the in-form Andrew Mitchell went close twice, before Hawick broke the deadlock when a smart scrum pick up by #8 Stuart Graham allowed swift transfer of the ball to full back Kirk Ford to step inside his man and score out wide….. duly converting his own try. Mitchell couldn’t be kept at bay for long though and the Hawick centre finally crossed for his score, breaking blind and being fed by scrum half Lightfoot he used his strength to dot down, with Ford once again adding the extras. Musselburgh then started to gain some territory however although they set up camp in the Hawick 22, a ferocious and organised defence foiled them at every turn.

The Greens delivered a further blow to ‘Burgh’ hopes, on the stroke of half-time, when prop Nicky Little, making his 150th appearance in the Hawick jersey, was at the centre of a forward drive and dotted down for a very popular score, Ford converting once more to make it 0-21 at halftime time.

Musselburgh came out for the second half in determined mood, looking to make something happen and spark a comeback, however as they pressed, quick thinking by stand off Lee Armstrong with an interception sparked a foot race up the pitch, and knowing the defence were going to catch him, a clever switch pop pass to Morgan Tait saw the winger dance in under the stick for the bonus point 4th try, duly converted by the trusty boot of fullback Ford.

With the score at 0-28 Musselburgh the threw everything at the Greens, but the organisation and focus of the Hawick defence was tremendous and tackle after tackle drove Musselburgh back on their heels! Hawick emptied the bench in the second half and the team never missed a beat, with Sam Frizzel who has been a ‘Tour de ‘Force’ all season dropping seamlessly into the mix. The competition for positions and willingness to play for each other within this young squad, must give the coaching team a great deal of satisfaction as we approach the sharp of the season.

All thoughts will now turn to Goldenacre and our game against Heriots Blue’s next week.

(Special thanks to Norma Dalgliesh for 3/4 photos included in this group….thanks Norma.)