The Force travelled up to Hartreemill in buoyant mood following last weeks excellent win.
The visitors kicked off with a strong wind behind them. The match was very physical from the offset with some dominant hits and carries from debutant Corey Tait. Both sides were testing each other out, cancelling out each other’s attacking opportunities for the first 20 minutes. The deadlock was finally broken following a fantastic tackle and turnover from Wullie Blacklock who had just entered the action replacing Tom Huggan. He fed the ball to newly signed prop Luke Wynn who rampaged from the 22 carrying several Biggar defenders over the line to score. Another replacement had to be made when touch judge David Wright pulled up injured, Rob Douglas rolling back the years to run the flag. Both sides were becoming frustrated by some of the refereeing calls at the breakdown, which brought the game to a halt before either side could build any momentum or phases. Biggar came back with a penalty to make the score 3-7 at the break.
The second half saw the wind increasing in the faces of the young Robbie Dyes. The Biggar number 10 probed the corners and trapped the Teries in their own 22 for the first 10 minutes, Corey Tait and new father Stuart Graham both to the fore defensively. The Hawick lads were pushing on the opposition line and it looked certain that Wynn had crossed for his second, only to be deemed held up by the referee. A quick try line drop out from Biggar was chased down the pitch and following a couple of phases they scored a well worked try.
Hard running from centres Elliot Stanger and Aaron Patterson saw the Force gain territory and build some good phases inside the host’s half. A loose pass was snapped up by the Biggar stand-off who ran in from half way for their second try against the run of play within 5 minutes. This brought the score to 17-7. The Hawick boys didn’t let their heads drop and they worked hard to get into some good attacking positions. At this point the Hawick scrum were dominating. Stand-off Cian Riddell fed Callum Jeffrey who broke up the wing and fed Charlie Welsh who ran in for a converted try bringing the score to 17-14. Hard running and poor discipline from the hosts saw the Force up on the Biggar try line with Corey Tait powering over for what looked like a fantastic try. However this was also deemed as being held up which allowed Biggar to clear their line and hold out for the final few minutes for a 17-14 win.
The Hawick lads had done themselves proud, tackling with ferocity and running with passion. It was great to see our young debutants stepping up to the mark and clearly enjoying themselves. Experience was delivered by Stuart Graham and Wullie Blacklock who deserves special mention for putting in a huge shift for 60 minutes. Man of the match had to go the effervescent Corey Tait. This young man has a very bright future. He can also hold a tune on the bus on the way home!
Garry Douglas
