Hawick YM 36
Linlithgow 0
NATIONAL DIVISION ONE
YM PLAYED host to last season’s Shield semi-finalists Linlithgow in the first league match of 2012 and a good contest was anticipated after the close call at Mains Park earlier in the season.
Linlithgow kicked off and for the third home league game on the bounce, the next time Linlithgow were to touch the ball was to kick-off again as the Skins dotted down from the very first play. YM launched an attack and rumbled up the field and, after a few phases of play, Stuart Graham sent his namesake Michael in at the corner.
The half was a scrappy affair which had no flow to it, but the Teries scored two more tries, the first by Wullie Blacklock, while Stephen Hill collected his second try of the season with his first touch of the ball after coming on as a replacement.
Ali Weir slotted one conversion to make the interval score 17-0.
The second half was just as scrappy as the first and to Linlithgow’s credit they defended well and it didn’t help YM’s cause when Garry Douglas was sin-binned in the 52nd minute. By the time the clock had ticked down to 12 minutes left, home supporters had begun to wonder if the bonus point would ever come.
Two tries in quick succession by Douglas, the first securing the bonus point and the second rounding off an excellent move started by a Michael Graham break, eased the pressure and man-of-the-match Blacklock rounded off the scoring with his second try. Both were converted by Ali Weir.
Hawick YM: M. Douglas; M. Graham, C. Ritson, D. McCracken, G. Desport; A. Weir, B. Campbell; B. Lilly, G. Douglas, W. Blacklock, A. Turnbull, S. Mabon, C. Robson, R. Scott, S. Graham. Subs: G. Petrie, S. Hill, R. Armstrong.