ANDREW GILLMAN could scarcely have known what he was about to unleash when he bagged an early solo try to open the scoring.
The GHA scrum-half's seventh-minute touchdown confirmed what many at Old Anniesland were saying pre-match, this was a potential banana skin for the BT Premiership side, but, Hawks' nine-try response enabled them to clinch a visit to high-flying National One side Marr in the quarter-finals.
"I felt, with a dry ball and a hard pitch, our fitness and intensity would tell, and, thankfully it did", said Colin Gregor, promoted to post-match press duties by Peter Laverie's absence, on SRU duty in Rome.
"This was a test of our squad depth," Gregor continued. "We had two important guys, skipper Brendan McGroarty and scrum-half Paddy Boyer on Scotland club duty on Friday night, and three more players in the Scotland Under-20 team, so, it was great to see the guys who came in all contributing – with the bench players all making an impact".
None of the newcomers impressed more than young Patrick Kelly, standing-in for captain McGroarty, who contributed some powerful running and two tries.
For GHA, coach Craig Sorbie found solace in defeat from the way his pack, outmuscled badly before the break, kept going to finish on the attack, but he had no excuses.
"Hawks are a quality outfit, we matched them first half, but ran out of steam; however, this reverse shows us the work we have to do to win promotion and be up with Hawks, which is where we aspire to be".
After Gillman's opener, Kelly's first try three minutes later put Hawks into a lead they never looked like losing. Kelly and Sean Yacubian scored further tries, with French full-back Pierre Munial adding a penalty and three conversions for a 24-5 Hawks' lead at the break.
In the second-half, Max MacFarlane, Robert Beattie (twice), Kenny Beattie, Yacubian again, and Stephen Leckey added further tries for Hawks. Munial converted two of these, and Josh Henderson three.
So, rugby bragging rights in the city continue to reside around Anniesland, but GHA, despite the size of the defeat, went out of the cup with their heads high.
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