BT Premiership ROUND-UP: Henderson strikes for Hawks to clinch win over Watsonians
Watsonians 36-38 Glasgow HawksGlasgow Hawks snatched victory in their contest with Watsonians following a last minute penalty kick from Josh Henderson at Myreside. An early try for the visitors, courtesy of a run in from flanker Matt Fagerson which was converted by Hagen Schulte to set the pace for Hawks.Watsonians responded through several charges from No.8 Rory Drummond, an impressive break down the left wing gave the home side position from which to score but unfortunately the ball was lost.Hawks then found themselves down to 14 men after wing Junior Bulumakau saw red following an incident with the opposition.Despite the number shortage, Hawks managed to find themselves in the oppositions 22 and it wasn’t long before Fagerson went over for his second in the 25th minute. Schulte added the extras.Minutes later, blind-side Ross Miller got on the end of effective forward play and charged over for Hawks before Shulte again converted.The Edinburgh side reacted through Drummond, who could not be stopped on this occasion after picking up from the ruck and sprinting over with no defence in line. Andrew Chalmers added the points before a half-time score of 7-28, in favour of the visitors.After the break, a yellow card for Watsonians’ Viliami Fihaki equalled numbers for either side as the flanker was penalised for repeated side entry.Hawks managed to bag the next try and it was Steven Findlay who powered over before Schulte converted in the 39th minute.Watsonians found momentum in the resulting phases and managed to score five times, DJ Innes, Mark Bertram, Angus Duckett, Ewan Scott and Euan McKirdy all finding the whitewash.Ewan Scott added two conversions to the barrage of scores to see Watsonians in front by two points after Hawks reacted with a try from centre Brendan McGroarty, which was converted by Josh Henderson.With a minute on the clock, Hawks were awarded with a penalty on the left, and the decision to kick for goal was made much to the surprise of the crowd.Henderson stepped up under the pressure and successfully converted the three points to steal victory over Watsonians at the death (36-38). Image: Alastair Ross | Novantae PhotographyAyr 44-41 Hawick The visitors were in full-blooded attack mode in the first-half, speedy winger Darcy Graham and rambunctious No.8 – and captain – Bruce McNeil punishing Ayr’s defensive lapses to score. Hawick full-back Kirk Ford converted both and kicked two penalties. The home side kept in touch through tries by prop Djustice Sears-Duru and full-back Grant Anderson and a penalty by stand-off Frazier Climo.It was edge-of-your-seat stuff in the second-half for Ayr fans, as Hawick raced to two early tries by prop Callum Mackintosh and danger man Graham.However, the fightback was on for the men in pink and black, led by winger Danny McCluskey who flew up the touchline for a try.Captain Pete McCallum rumbled over in the corner before winger Craig Gossman grabbed a brace.Hawick would not lie down and roll over, with that famous Borders fighting spirit on show for all to see. Lock Keith McNeil barrelled over for a try, and the reliable boot of Ford did the rest.There was just as much fighting spirit on the west coast of the country, and Ayr used every ounce of determination to camp out in Hawick’s 22 until centre Archie Russell seized the chance to score in the corner. Climo landed a perfect touchline conversion to bring to an end a pulsating game.Image: George McMillanStirling County 19-27 Currie County opened the scoring on nine minutes, following a penalty line-out on the left side just inside the visitors’ 22, the ball was moved in field to outside centre Craig Pringle who was tackled 5 metres from the try line, Hamilton Burr’s pick-and-go was stopped just short and the ball was recycled to Alex Taylor who offloaded to Adam Sinclair for the second-row to barge through the Currie rearguard for the first try to the left of the uprights. Full-back Jonny Hope added the conversion to give County an early seven point advantage.Following a sustained period of attacking play by Currie, the visitors spilled the ball in the County 22, and Hope gathered possession and threw a long wide pass to release Pringle who sprinted 60 metres up the right touchline before popping the ball inside to his supporting scrum-half Matt Donaldson who kicked ahead and collected the ball to dive over for an unconverted try in the right corner, extending the home-side’s lead to 12-0.Currie responded and following a succession of attacking phases within the County 22, the ball was swiftly moved through the hands from left to right by the visiting backs, stretching the home defence, allowing full-back Harvey Elms to squeeze over for an unconverted try in the right corner, taking the score to 12-5. Two minutes before the break, Currie again lost possession deep in the County half, and the home-side quickly worked the ball out to right-winger Craig Sorbie, who side-stepped his opposite number before sprinting 50 metres into the visitors’ 22, drawing the opposition full-back before passing inside to the supporting Pringle who strolled under posts to score his side’s third try, converted by Hope, giving the Bridgehaugh side a commanding 14 point lead. Currie started the second-half in much-more aggressive fashion, and scored a try three minutes after the re-start when full-back Elms touched down in the left corner, following a series of attacking drives by the visiting pack. The try was converted by stand-off Jamie Forbes to reduce the leeway to 19-12.County were reduced to 14-men when Wynne was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle on the hour-mark. Currie immediately made their numerical advantage pay when their forward pack drove over the County try line for Hamish Bain to touch down for an unconverted try in the right corner, narrowing the score to 19-17 with 17 minutes remaining.With nine minutes left to play, County were attacking in the visitors’ 22 before a loose pass was intercepted by Currie winger Ben Robbins who ran the length of the pitch to score his side’s fourth and bonus-point try under the posts, converted by Forbes to give the Edinburgh team the lead for the first time in the match at 19-24.Forbes added a 77th minute penalty for Currie after the home-side illegally obstructed in front of their posts, to deny County a losing bonus-point.Image: Bryan Robertson Heriot’s 23-17 Boroughmuir Heriot’s: Tries: Clarke Smith (14), Callum Marshall (56), Michael Maltman (74). Conversion: Alex Hagart (14) Penalties: Alex Hagart (4,10) Half-time: Heriot’s 13-0 Boroughmuir Boroughmuir: Tries: Tristan King (48), Callum Atkinson (61), Grant McConnell (79). Conversion: Chris Laidlaw (61)Melrose 57-17 Gala Melrose: Tries: Ruaridh Knott (2), Craig Jackson (2), Neil Irvine-Hess, Ross McCann (2), Struan Hutchison, Dan Elkington. Conversions: Craig Jackson (5), Austin Lockington.Half-time: Melrose 31-7 Gala Gala: Tries: Ross Coombe, Rob Louw, George Lott. Conversions: Adams. Image: Douglas Hardie
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