And Greens fans at Mansfield Park can head to Goldenacre on Saturday in good spirits, buoyed by a convincing victory over their arch rivals in the last of their pre-season warm-up matches.
Richie Gray and Garry Parker chose to use a squad of 25, but the Maroons put up only meagre resistance against a Hawick side, trimmed from previous friendlies, with an eye on tomorrow's league opener against Heriot.
At times it looked as if the Green machine could score at will, although coach Jim Hay still has some work to do on the defensive side of things and must do something to address the alarming number of unforced errors.
Newly appointed captain Keith Hedley led his side onto the park, but the hosts were given a rude awakening and found themselves 8-0 down in a matter of minutes. Andy McLean kicked a penalty first before Craig Robertson skipped past four tackles with lightning pace to score in the corner.
Back came Hawick though, and responded in the best way possible. While Hugh Scammell was involved in a skirmish with Alan Emond on the edge of the '22, his team-mates were eyeing the line. The impressive Graham Hogg fed Keith Davies who went over for the try and Hogg converted.
Seconds later, Gala were stunned again as Colin Murray finished off a deft chip forward. And young full-back Garry Johnstone took advantage of some fine work from Rory Hutton to sprint home from inside his own half.
Hawick supporters sensed a rout and they were further encouraged by a second try of the afternoon for Murray.
But Gala pulled a try back before the break through captain Tam Weir.
Normal service was resumed after the interval as the Gala defence resembled a leaking drain and Hogg again stole through to score. David Lowrie stepped up from the touchline to fire the conversion between the uprights.
Hay made sweeping changes, but the match descended into a battle. So much so that Gala's Graham Brown was lucky to stay on the field - referee Ian Rogerson advised the visiting management to substitute the veteran, a request which was denied by Hay and Parker.
Brown stayed on the pitch, but his attempts were in vain for the Maroons and the Greens held on for the win.

Hawick: G Johnstone, C Murray, G Hogg, R Scott, K Hedley, R Hutton, K Reid, S Linton, H Scammell, G Scott, G Petrie, C Charters, D Lowrie, K Davies. Replacements: N Renwick, B Campbell, C Neish, N Little, R Borthwick, M Landels