Heriot's FP13

Glasgow Hawks27

Just enough and a little bit more to make sure. As they claimed their piece of history by wrapping up the BT Premiership title, this five-try triumph could hardly have summed up Glasgow Hawks' campaign better, as they put themselves beyond Boroughmuir's reach in their penultimate league match.

The fact that a man, regarded as one of their own by Boroughmuir, received so much of the credit for the title heading west for the first time, made it all the more unpalatable for the Meggetland men.

In a fine playing career, Peter Wright had spells with Hawks, Melrose and, like his excellent coaching partner Rob Ackerman, the British and Irish Lions. However, it is with Meggetland that he is most closely associated.

Yet he has proved an excellent missionary in a city whose rugby players have been often derided for their supposed lack of commitment. ''It is really important to get this win because everybody jokes about Glasgow rugby that there's talent, but when push comes to shove there is not the bottle,'' said Wright.

''I said at the start of the season that I did not think we were good enough to win it, but I'll say now that we were the best team. Not by much, but our consistency was better than everybody else's.''

Wright is now re-focussing on bringing additional style in the future, but his contribution to changing Anniesland's culture was best explained by a man with whom he has gone arm in arm to battle in the past. One of the few Hawks originals still involved on the playing side, Chris Docherty, the club captain, was there to lift the trophy yesterday, albeit he did so in collar and tie because disc trouble has sidelined him for several weeks.

''We had a squad there that had the potential to win it for the past four or five years with just a few extras coming in this year,'' he said. ''However, Peter has brought a different attitude towards things, introducing the winning mentality. We've won a lot of games this year where in the past we would have lost.''

Having chosen not to kick goals since the key to lifting the title was the four-try bonus point - a message Mike Rainey seemed to take too far by missing four of five conversion attempts on the day - it took Hawks 19 minutes to score when the feisty Richard McKnight stretched to the line. Indeed Wright admitted that it did look at times as if his side were aiming for the bare minimum by rationing to a touchdown per quarter.

''I was worried it might be one every 20 minutes which would have meant getting the last in the 80th minute. I don't think my heart would have taken that,'' the coach joked.

With Colin Shaw's unusual winger's try - squirming over from point blank range - sandwiched by two Ian Stent penalties, Heriot's had not been shaken off by the break and only when their flanker Stephen McNeil was sin-binned midway through the second half did Hawks turn the screw.

In his absence, flanker-turned-centre Ally Maclay forced his way over before replacement Steve Begley - along with Scott Hutton, whom he replaced, one of only two survivors of Hawks inaugural season Scottish Cup and second division title wins to take the field - aptly plunged over for the crucial fourth.

''It was nice to do, but it didn't matter if it was me or someone else,'' said Begley whose attitude to his historic score demonstrated the sort of team attitude any coach would want to encourage.

Curiously, while the bonus point had been secured with Heriot's yet to score a try, the game was not quite over as a contest so that Gordon McFadyen was entitled to his extravagant celebrations after his subsequent try which meant Mike Teague's late score for Heriot's was not enough to generate any real concern among visiting ranks.

Odd, too, that after some of the complaints from Hawks' whingier element about the lack of professional help this season they benefited substantially in this last push from Heriot's being denuded of the talents of Ander Monro, Craig Harrison, Rory Lawson and Matt Dey because they had played for Edinburgh the previous night.

That, however, was put in perspective by the club captain who rightly suggested they should simply celebrate a season of great club achievement. ''We've got a lot of good players in key positions who can do the job as well as, if not in some cases maybe better, than some of the guys who have played professional rugby,'' said Docherty, who noted that Hawks have also benefited in terms of having had very few calls for their players from the Glasgow management in spite of their success.

''The guys you get back a lot of the time are not key players, they are those who are in and out of the team not playing regular rugby. Regular rugby is what it's all about. We haven't been hit that badly by injuries. Now and again there have been games where there have been five or six players missing, but we've had plenty strength in depth. The boys that have come in are filling positions well. The twos won 96-0 today to clinch their league and I think every single back out there has played in the firsts this season.''

All of which has developed strength right through this club, and even if it has come from adversity, the time has surely come for all involved to forget about the perceived injustices of the past, revel in the present and look forward with confidence to what develops from what was always a well-conceived project.