{"id":528071,"date":"2025-10-26T00:51:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T00:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/528071\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T00:51:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T00:51:08","slug":"glasgow-hawks-wobble-before-late-try-seals-win-over-depleted-heriots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/528071\/","title":{"rendered":"Glasgow Hawks wobble before late try seals win over depleted Heriot’s"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meanwhile, Heriot\u2019s head coach Bob McKillop<\/strong> did not believe his players were unlucky not to come away with a draw. \u201cI think you make your own luck,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiving a team like Hawks a lead like that away from home \u2013 we did it last week against Selkirk and we were lucky enough then.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe players are disappointed with their accuracy in attack, which was so good last week. A few fumbles at the line-out and a few passes which shouldn\u2019t have been thrown.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heriot\u2019s were arguably unfortunate to have their 9, 10, 12 combination in Hamish MacArthur<\/strong>, Calum Jessop<\/strong> and Henry Kesterton<\/strong> picked up by the Edinburgh \u2018A\u2019 side for today\u2019s clash against Glasgow Warriors\u00a0 \u2018A\u2019, and McKillop acknowledged that was a factor in his team\u2019s overall performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cAcross the club we have 27 players injured, so the fact that we put out three teams is great,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it\u2019s missing the combination more than the individual players. The three that came in are very, very good players, but that previous combination had played four or five games together.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, if the start was anything to go by, it looked as though Heriot\u2019s were going to run away with the game. The visitors began an early onslaught, bombarding the Hawks defence which held briefly before prop Struan Cessford<\/strong> burst through Tom Banatvala<\/strong>\u2018s tackle to give his side the lead, Angus Reid<\/strong> converting for a 7-0 lead.<\/p>\n

Liam Brims<\/strong> looked to narrow the gap as the Heriot\u2019s penalty count began its steady rise, but his long-range effort was unable to claw three back.<\/p>\n

Heriot\u2019s became architects of their own downfall, they allowed Brims to kick to the corner and unleash the first of many devastating catch and drives. It was captain Paul Cairncross<\/strong>, Hawks\u2019 own Johnny Matthews<\/strong>, who dotted down for a first try for the hosts. Brims nailed a tricky conversion to pull the sides level.<\/p>\n

In a run reminiscent of Liam Williams<\/strong> against New Zealand in 2017, Muirhead jinked through the Heriot\u2019s defence, bursting down the field but was brought down just a couple of metres short. A failure from the tackler to release gave Hawks yet another penalty advantage, one they would not need to cash in as Yousuf Shaheen<\/strong> eventually bundled over. With Brims\u2019 shooting boots on hand, the home side took a 14-7 lead.<\/p>\n

It seemed from that point Hawks could do no wrong and Heriot\u2019s no right, the visitors giving away another penalty which resulted in an easy opportunity for the home side to kick to the corner. No surprise that the catch-and-drive continued to pay dividends, with Cairncross completing gis brace. No conversion this third time around, but Hawks went into the break with a healthy twelve-point lead.<\/p>\n

The half-time team talk did not do Heriot\u2019s much good, as it was not long before the all-too-familiar line-out drive saw prop Brandon Sweet<\/strong> cross for the crucial bonus point. Brims provided the extras to bring the score to 26-7.<\/p>\n

Far from a beaten team, Heriot\u2019s camped out in the opposition half as they had done at the start. Their efforts were rewarded as fly-half Finn Neilson<\/strong> floated the ball wide to flanker Sam Wallace<\/strong>, who beat Callum Reidy<\/strong> to score in the corner. The position proved too difficult for Reid to take them any closer than 26-12.<\/p>\n

Inaccuracy and fatigue went hand in hand as Hawks were forced to continue to repel bulldozing Heriot\u2019s runs. As the game entered its closing stages, hooker Elliot Young<\/strong> proved one carrier too many for defenders to give Reid the platform to make it 26-19.<\/p>\n

Faced with a chance to make some metres, Brims opted for the three points. But in a repeat of his first attempt, the kick proved unsuccessful. Soon Sweet was sin-binned and Heriot\u2019s were level with substitute Euan McLaren<\/strong> adding five and Reid making no mistake from the tee.<\/p>\n

Hawks got their act together, some great hands moving the ball to Muirhead, the winger racing over in the corner to restore the lead. Brims made amends for his earlier poor kick with an excellent conversion to bring the score to 33-26.<\/p>\n

Minutes felt like hours as Heriot\u2019s attempted to dent the Hawks try-line defence, but ultimately the hosts held out for a win on which their season could pivot. Heriot\u2019s, meanwhile, at least came away with two points for their troubles.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Teams \u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

Glasgow Hawks:<\/strong> J Couper; L Jarvie, C Waugh, P Kelly, E Muirhead; L Brims, C Reidy; T Banatvala, P Cairncross\u00a9, B Sweet, M Crumlish, M Oliver, A Rutherford, Y Shaheen, S Hastings. Subs used:<\/strong> T McTeir, F Anderson, A Orr, A Syme, J Hastings, G Cruickshanks, M Waugh.<\/p>\n

Heriot\u2019s:<\/strong> A Hunter; A Reid, Z Smith, N Sakapaji, F Neilson; S Talac, A Munro; E Young, S Cessford, P Spence, N Doherty, R Kirkpatrick, S Wallace, C Anderson, I Parkin. Subs used:<\/strong> A Johnston, T Kaijaks, E McLaren, R Brown, M Keough, G Wilson, I Parkin.<\/p>\n

Referee:<\/strong> David Young<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Scorers \u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

Glasgow Hawks:<\/strong> Tries: Cairncross 2, Shaheen, Sweet, Muirhead; Cons: Brims 4.<\/p>\n

Heriot\u2019s:<\/strong> Tries: Cessford, Wallace, Young McLaren; Cons: Reid 3.<\/p>\n

Scoring sequence (Glasgow Hawks first):<\/strong> 0-7; 7-7; 14-7; 19-7; 26-7 (h-t) 26-12; 26-19; 26-26; 33-26.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yellow cards \u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

Glasgow Hawks:<\/strong> Sweet<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Player-of-the-Match:<\/strong> Euan Muirhead was a close runner-up for the prize for his \u2018clutch\u2019 contributions. However, it was captain Paul Cairncross<\/strong> who shone in both defence and attack. Dotting two tries down, he was the face of a set-piece plan which gave his side three crucial tries. The hooker distinguished himself with some ferocious tackling and relentless intensity throughout.<\/p>\n

Talking point:<\/strong> A defeat would not have proved a death sentence for Hawks, but a win was much needed to show the players what it takes to find themselves on the right side of a tight game. A mental boost to go with the five points, they need to heed Smith\u2019s instructions and cause an upset on the road.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Meanwhile, Heriot\u2019s head coach Bob McKillop did not believe his players were unlucky not to come away with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":528072,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7826],"tags":[748,85185,918,128980,4884,171118,712,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-528071","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-glasgow","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-divi","10":"tag-glasgow","11":"tag-glasgow-hawks-rfc","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-heriots-rugby-club","14":"tag-scotland","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115437730796478802","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=528071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528071\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/528072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=528071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=528071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=528071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}