THE spirit that made Hawick the nation’s first league champions and cup winners may have been in short supply at times this season, but it was back in abundance yesterday as they preserved their Premiership status with a hard-fought win over Edinburgh Accies.

The Borders club looked to be down and out at 20-6 behind in this play-off at Lasswade, especially as, having played their last league game in mid-February, they were some way short of optimal match fitness. But as bodies tired and space opened up, it was Accies who faltered.

That was in part because they were never going to be able to maintain their preference for a tighter, more forward-dominated style of play throughout the 80 minutes. But also, as is so often the case in promotion/relegation play-offs, it is the team from the upper division who are used to toughing it out. The aim for Hawick next season is to ensure that they finish well clear of the second-bottom spot in the Premiership which consigned them to this match, while Accies’ ambition is to go one better than runners-up in National One and secure an automatic place in the top flight.

“To be honest, we thought the game was gone when we were 14 points down,” Hawick coach Nikki Walker said in his last game in charge of the club. “But the boys showed real character to come back. To go that long without a game, they were a bit rusty. But I think they deserve it.”

Accies played the more controlled game in the first half, drawing penalties from a stretched Hawick defence. But the Borderers were more dangerous on the break, with Edinburgh signing Darcy Graham looking particularly lively whenever a gap appeared.

Midway through the half, the full-back showed a clean pair of heels to half the Accies back division, but his kick inside was cleared. By then Hawick were 6-0 up thanks to two Lee Armstrong penalties, but they failed to capitalise on a period of dominance and fell behind in the 25th minute.

Accies scrum-half Alexander Glashan had given fair warning of his threat with a dart that began an attack, so Hawick should have been smarter than to leave a gap close to the ruck several phases later, by which time they were back defending just inside their 22. Glashan needed no second invitation, and dashed through to score between the posts. Ben Appleson converted, then, having missed two penalties, had better fortune at the third attempt with the last kick of the half.

Having finished the first period on top, Accies reinforced their control in the early stages of the second half. Substitute Lawrie Seydak had been immense since coming on at No 8, and after a series of scrums had edged ever closer to the Hawick line, he had a simple task to finish off the move.

Appleson’s conversion made it 20-6, pushing Hawick perilously close to falling out of the contest. But they hit back quickly through a John Coutts try which Armstrong converted, and the score inspired them to play with far greater hunger and self-belief than they had shown since early in the first half.

With plenty of time to play, it seemed a mistake when Hawick opted to run a penalty in the Accies 22, especially as they failed to score from the move. When they made the same decision minutes later, however, they got it right, with captain Bruce McNeil taking a quick tap and forcing his way over the line. Armstrong converted to level the scores, and with a dozen minutes to play the game was back in the balance.

It stayed that way until a few minutes from time, when Armstrong put his team back in front with a third penalty. Accies had one last attempt at a counter-attack, but in truth their chance had come and gone by then.

“At 14 points down we knew they were going to come back at us,” their coach Derek O’Riordan said. “They’re a Premiership side. It’s just experience.”

Scorers: Edinburgh Accies: Tries: Glashan, Seydak. Cons: Appleson 2. Pens: Appleson 2.

Hawick: Tries: Coutts, McNeil. Cons: Armstrong 2 . Pens: Armstrong 3.

Edinburgh Accies: R Chalmers; M Coupar, P Loudon, W Stephen, J Peterson; B Appleson, A Glashan; J Pearse, C Black, C Lacour, N Aitken, S Gibson, G Campbell, J Sole, T Drennan. Substitutes: C Weetman, S Gunn, L Seydak, J Winks, M Love, N Armstrong, F Morrison.

Hawick: D Graham; J Coutts, L Armstrong, R Hutton, G Johnstone; K Brunton, B Campbell; B McNeil, F Renwick, N Little, K McNeil, D Lowrie, S Graham, R Gibson, K Davies. Substitutes: G Douglas, M Landels, D Johnstone, D Redpath, S Fairbairn M Douglas, S Anderson.

Referee: K Allen.