Arnold Clark Men's Premiership: Watsonians survive rousing Glasgow Hawks fightback

03/22/2025 03:54 PM

Glasgow Hawks 31

Watsonians 36

EVE MCTIERNAN @ Balgray

UNDER heavy clouds, it was Watsonians who came out on top in front of a very vocal Balgray, despite a last-ditch effort from Hawks. The visitors appeared to have the game in the bag when they went 7-31 up early in the second half, but the hosts rallied heroically to pull it back to all-squad with a few minutes to go. A late Campbell Wilson try saved the Edinburgh side’s blushes but head coach Davey Wilson was in no mood to shrug 

"I've had better afternoons,” he said afterwards. “Our discipline got the better of us. We're our own worst enemies at times. At half time the game was in the bag, then we fell off the face of a cliff. If we genuinely want to go further in these play offs, then we're going to have to be massively better than that."

Opposite number Andy Hill was not inclined to look on the bright side either. “You can't be happy with being good losers or coming so close,” he said. “One extra point would've been massive, but we got ourselves in a really poor position in the first half. We've not spoken about relegation because I think we are a good team. We're improving the players we've got at this point in the season rather than talking about a possible outcome and focusing on what's in front of us."

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Hawks came out swinging as James Couper went cantering down the nearside, but a tap tackle and a Hail Mary pass prevented the try and rewarded the visitors the first scrum of the afternoon.

Momentum soon shifted and Watsonians set up camp three metres out but the hosts turned over, pushing the visitors back to outside the 22.

Watsonians got possession again and soon Hawks were under pressure, and after repeated narrow attempts to get over the line, a slightly wider approach saw Andrew McInnes score. Jason Baggott got the extras from the tee.

Hawks were forced into two early substitutions with Andrew Syme going down and Max Crumlish coming on while Fraser Muir was replaced by Marcus Goodwin.

In the first 15 minutes, Hawks gave away six penalties, some food for thought for Andy Hill, and things went from bad to worse for the hosts when Crumlish was shown a yellow for cynical play. However, a dropped ball gave Hawks a lifeline and allowed them to hunt out an exit from their own goal-line.

The hosts really struggled to get on the right side of referee Daniel Evans as Watsonians were awarded penalty after penalty resulting in Stu Allison crashing over in the corner. Baggott couldn't add the extras this time.

From the restart, Hawks were quick to turn up the pressure and it paid off as after 29 minutes they were finally awarded a penalty of their own, but couldn't capitalise on it.

There was scrappy play from both sides until eventually Zander Walls chipped over the top and the bouncing ball took the chase all the way over the line for Freddie Owsley to touch down. Baggott found the extras.

Hawks found their feet towards the end of the first half with Isaiah Malaulau crashing over in the corner after sustained pressure. Andrew McLean added the conversion.

Watsonians looked to go again but a swift turnover from Hawks saw Euan Muirhead boot the ball into touch.

Watsonians came out fighting after the break with Walls sliding over the line in the far corner. Baggott missed the conversion.

Hawks  got on the right side of the referee this half as they were awarded a crucial penalty deep inside the visitors' 22. From there they got over the line, but Watsonians managed to get under the ball to hold it up.

Momentum returned to the visitors as Owsley broke through the hosts' defence to go all the way, crashing under the posts to set up an easy conversion for Baggott which made it 7-31 to the visitors, and it looked like it was ‘game over’.

Scrappy play from the visitors gave Hawks a slight reprieve with shouts from the stands as referee Daniel Evans appeared to miss several Watsonians off their feet.

Hawks turned up the heat and set up camp deep in the Watsonians 22, this was the home team’s biggest attack so far and it was unstoppable … almost. Somehow Watsonians held the ball up again.

Hawks kept themselves on the front foot and a chip through from Scott Steele sent Ryan Flett soaring over the line. Liam Brims added the extras.

The momentum stuck with the hosts as they managed to send Ben Morris darting down in the far corner. Brims kick went wide.

Hawks’ refusal to go quietly saw them find their way over the line once more through Ryan Howie. Brims' kick was good.

Having left it so late in the game, Hawks had really found their rhythm and once again broke through the Watsonians defence as Flett darted over in the near corner to tie the score, but Brims' potentially crucial conversion went wide this time.

Despite Hawks pressure, Watsonians got themselves ahead with a minute to go with an attack up the touchline which sawWilson finish in the corner. Baggott couldn't find the extras, but his team had done enough to escape Balgray with a win.

Teams –

Hawks: E Muirhead; J Couper, N Thompson, C Elliot, R Flett; A McLean, B Jackson; F Muir, P Cairncross co-©, I Malaulau, A Syme, R Burke, L Stewart, S Hastings, J Morris. Subs: R Howie, M Goodwin, M Crumlish, Y Shaheen, S Steele, L Brims co-, B Morris

Watsonians: F Owsley; L Macpherson, R Kerr, D Coetzer, Z Walls; J Baggott, M Scott; C Davidson, M Pritchard, T Gracie, A McInnes, K van Niekerk, J Minty, S Allison, N Irvine-Hess. Subs: C Davies, K Watt, S Cecil, C Wilson.

Referee: Daniel Evans

Scorers –

Glasgow Hawks: Tries: Malaulau, Flett 2, Morris, Howie; Cons: McLean, Brims 2

Watsonians: McInnes, Allison, Owsley 2, Walls, Wilson; Cons: Jason Baggott 3

Scoring sequence (Hawks first): 0-5; 0-7; 0-12; 0-17; 0-19; 5-19; 7-19 (h-t) 7-24; 7-29; 7-31; 12-31; 14-31; 19-31; 24-31; 26-31; 31-31; 31-36

Yellow cards –

Glasgow Hawks: Crumlish

Man-of-the-Match: Hawks fly-half Andrew McLean controlled the game well despite being behind for so long. It was aevel-headed and precise performance.

Talking point: Should Watsonians have had a yellow? Three consecutive penalties given away on their own line and no punishment seems unfair.

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