Aberdeen Grammar’s miserable run of form continued at Rubislaw where they not only lost to title-chasing Hawick but added to their long list of injuries to key players.
Head coach Ali O’Connor despaired at the situation in which prop Calum Reddish had to leave the field of play after only 15 minutes with a hamstring issue.
He said: “Considering we have nearly a team of players on the injury list, we did well to contain Hawick for nearly half and an hour.
“Losing Calum so early in the game was a major blow, but despite losing we put up a credible performance.
“Our first up tackles were good and generally we defended well.
“A number of our youngsters put in big shifts, including back rowers Corey Buchan and Glen Robertson but it’s another defeat, although we are improving with every game.”
Hawick, who have hopes of a Premiership title, are now in third place but did not need to be be at their best to win this game.
Their demanding supporters must be wondering why they failed to pick up a fourth try for a valuable bonus point,while the Rubislaw faithful must be asking why their team were never in contention for a point of any kind, such were Grammar’s attacking limitations in their fifth consecutive defeat.
Hawick eased in front after nine minutes when centre Kirk Ford kicked a penalty but despite incessant pressure it took the Borderers until the half hour mark to score their first try when winger Morgan Tait got on the end of a string of passes to score in the corner, converted by Ford.
The game was effectively over in 37 minutes when the Hawick pack drove over the home line for a touchdown attributed to captain and hooker Matt Carryer and with Ford again kicking the extras it was 17-0 at the break.
The main interest in the second half was in whether Hawick would go on to claim a bonus point for four tries, or Grammar score a point of any kind.
In the event neither happened, leaving the Greens to settle for a lone try from Ford which he converted, while the home side had to live off scraps of possession which they more often than not aimlessly kicked away.
A trip to Edinburgh on Saturday where they meet leaders Currie is the last thing Grammar need, although captain and centre Tom Aplin insisted his team were learning and improving.
“We’ll be up for it that’s for sure,” he said.
On a bad day for Aberdeen’s two most senior teams, Gordonians, who play in National League 2, were thrashed 45-0 by Glasgow Accies in Glasgow.
The young Countesswells side had no answer to the seven tries run in by a Glasgow team.
Team captain Danny Usugo said: “We just never got off the bus, but must bounce back next Saturday when we meet bottom side Whitecraigs at Countesswells.
“This is a young team with an average age of under 21 who have little or no experience of senior club rugby but need to learn fast.”
