It was with some trepidation that Trinity Accies welcomed the high scoring league leaders to Bangholm. The home team, who had such a good end to 2012 winning 3 games in a row, have struggled in the New Year to continue this good form and after two consecutive defeats, victory was a big ask. However the 12-12 draw away from home earlier in the season gave Trinity the belief that Hawick were not invincible.
After a change of heart by Edinburgh Leisure, the pitch was declared playable and on a windy but sunny afternoon this was clearly the correct decision and the home fans were encouraged by the inclusion of Scott Brown, back from his adventure Down Under.
Trinity, playing with a stiff breeze at their backs, began brightly, although there was early concern when their normally strong scrum came under a bit of pressure and No 8 Kenny Campbell deserves mention for controlling the ball with his pack going backwards. Hawick realised that it was important to keep the ball in hand and their strong runners punched holes in the Trinity defence line, allowing them to off-load in contact and Trinity looked vulnerable. However this open play policy proved to be the visitors undoing when, against the run of play Dave Devlin, the Trinity winger, intercepted a pass and ran in a score from 40m. The conversion was missed.
The game became a little niggley after this and there were a number of flare ups. Both teams were penalised for dangerous tackles and the referee spoke to players and captains several times. Trinity went further ahead with a penalty from No 10 John Spencer, although he missed with two other penalty attempts. Trinity then had a good spell, moving the ball with purpose and a deliberate knock on prompted the first yellow card against the Hawick second row.
Whilst a man up the Trinity pack took the opportunity to exert some pressure and when the visitors twice dropped a driving maul they were lucky not to have been down to 13. Although not using the wind as much as they might have, Trinity spent the majority of the time in their opponents half and on the stroke of half time got their reward when a beautifully executed back move put Nathan Ross in under the posts. Spencer converted.
Half Time Trinity Accies 15 Hawick Linden 0
Trinity followers felt that a 15 point lead may not be enough and Hawick immediately set up camp in the Trinity half. A score look inevitable but resolute defence, albeit with some last ditch tackles, kept them out. A Hawick penalty reduced the deficit and at this point they were dominating both the scrum and, to a lesser degree the line outs.
In a rare visit to the opposition half Trinity were awarded a penalty which birthday boy Neil Morrison kicked to restore the 15 point lead.
From this point on the visitors dominated territory and possession but the Trinity defence held firm through a combination of aggressive defence and Hawick errors. After losing the ball over the line and having what they felt was a good try disallowed, frustration got the better Hawick and they conceded a couple of penalties for dissent which eased the pressure on Trinity. The possession and pressure eventually produced a try for Hawick which was converted. With just over 10 minutes remaining, Trinity were reduced to 14 when lock Ross Herbert was shown yellow for not rolling away from the tackle. However the remaining Trinity players maintained their discipline and held on for a good win.
Full Time

Trinity Accies 18
Hawick Linden
8