Edinburgh Accies 20

Hawick 23

WHETHER the sport is rugby or football, and regardless of the circumstances, there is one over-riding factor in determining the outcome of promotion/relegation play-offs. The team from the higher division has a big advantage.

It is counter-intuitive to an extent. In this case, Edinburgh Accies had spent their National One campaign steadily improving as a side. They were runners-up to Marr by just four points, and were a massive 27 points clear of the chasing pack. They were used to winning well.

Hawick, by contrast, had been underpowered up front all season, gave themselves a big handicap by losing their first four games, and at times appeared to lack direction. The fact that they had not played a league match since mid-February meant that they went into Saturday’s Premiership play-off at Lasswade well short of match fitness, whereas Accies had at least only completed their league programme at the start of April.

It would have been reasonable to suppose, then, that Hawick would need to take a decent lead into the final quarter, then hold on for grim life. And in the event, just as reasonable to suppose that when Accies took a 20-6 lead quarter of an hour into the second half, the contest was all but over.

Not so. Hawick certainly needed to score quickly from that point, and they did through a try by winger John Coutts. That put the outcome back in the balance, and then man of the match Bruce McNeil played a captain’s role with a quick tap penalty. Lee Armstrong, whose two penalties had opened the scoring, converted both tries, then with just four minutes to go calmly added a third penalty to give his team a decisive lead.

It was a courageous performance against opponents who had the edge up front and dictated much of the game, and Nikki Walker, head coach of Hawick for the last time, was relieved as well as delighted that his final act had been to keep the club in the top flight. “There was great character shown by the boys - to go that long without a game, you could see they weren’t really match fit, they were a bit rusty,” he said.

“We had to really dig in to get that. I think they deserve it. They’ve had a tough season, a really tough season, tougher season than they’ve probably ever had.

“They’ve really fought to be in this position, and I think they deserve to get that narrow win in the end. It would have been really disappointing to walk away and put the club down.”

The disappointment for Accies came not only from the result, but from knowing that they should have been further ahead before Hawick mounted that spirited fightback. Ben Appleson was only on target with one penalty out of three in the first half, although he also converted Alex Glashan’s try to give his team a 10-6 lead at half-time. The stand-off added the two points when Lawrie Seydak, the capital club’s best performer on the day, stretched the lead after the break. But by then other scoring chances had also been passed up, to the frustration of Accies coach Derek O’Riordan.

“Was it in our control? In the first half, yeah, it was,” he said.

“We had an opportunity I think towards the start of the second half to just knuckle down and gain some territory, get a foothold in their half and keep going. And we didn’t. We tried to run a ball that we should never have tried to run, but that happens when you’ve got three 18-year-olds in your back line.

“Sometimes you just need that experience to get the ball down there and go again. And we didn’t, and that was ultimately the turning point for us.”

While perfectly aware of Hawick’s lack of match practice, O’Riordan insisted that their experience of playing at a higher level was always going to count heavily in their favour. The task for his club next season, he added, was to ensure that they won automatic promotion.

“They’re a Premiership side with a lot of nous and a lot of experience. We always knew that they had that on us. Yes, we were pretty well conditioned, but in games like this it’s experience that’s going to get you through in those tight areas.

“At 14 points down we knew that they were going to come back at us. It’s just experience.

“This isn’t a loss really for us: it’s an opportunity to see where we’re at. We had a crack, and if we went up we’d have earned the right to do so. For us, our aim now is coming back next year and going up as champions - and staying up.”

Since the play-offs began in 2013, Hawick - in that first year - are the only team to have won from a lower division. Their own task now will be to ensure that they never again put their Premiership place in such jeopardy.

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

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