Hamilton suffer frustrating day

Sep 10 2009 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

HAMILTON were forced to settle for a losing bonus point after a frustrating Scottish Hydro Premier 3 clash against Cartha at Dumbreck.

The match was played in difficult weather conditions and it was soon obvious that the free-flowing rugby of last week wasn’t likely to be repeated.

Hamilton attacked early on, with Richie Maxton, Chris McGeogh and Robert Cowie dominating lineouts and pinning Cartha into their own 22 for the opening five minutes.

When Cartha did break to halfway, they found John Selfridge wasn’t in charitable mood and won a penalty, which McLeish put just wide.

Three minutes later, Cartha went on the attack again and, in an attempt to halt Tony Nyangweso, Craig Sangster and Dave McLean collided, with McLean leaving the field for treatment on a suspected broken finger.

Hamilton turned over the ball and attacked again through Selfridge.

Ron Strydom picked up and, with other options blocked, chipped to the corner where Ross Inglis won the chase to touch down. Despite the difficult angle, McLeish converted for a 7-0 lead.

With McLean forced to retire, Stephen Morley took his place and Hamilton continued to have territorial advantage, with McLeish’s boot and some superb tackling keeping the Southsiders pinned back.

Hamilton continued to dominate territorially, and on the 25-minute mark were awarded another penalty which McLeish slotted over for a 10-0 lead and when Nicol Smillie was penalised for offside in 33 minutes, Hamilton increased their lead to 13-0.

However, that seemed to spark Cartha to life and as Hamilton defended desperately, referee Charlie Samson sent Selfridge to the sin bin for handling on the ground.

The city side opted for the scrum and although Hamilton held their ground, Andy Scott found space to dash round the defence to score, with Andi Black converting for 13-7.

With the extra man, Cartha threw everything into attack but the Bulls managed to hold out until the break.

With Hamilton still reduced to 14 men, Cartha made the advantage count two minutes into the second half when Smillie burst through the middle, fed the ball left, and as ball moved through hands, Tommy Mocelutu appeared from the opposite wing to squeeze in at the corner, with Black’s conversion putting Cartha 14-13 ahead.

After Ross Inglis had saved Hamilton from conceding another try, an infringement in the lineout saw Black kick for 17-13.

Hamilton regrouped and when Strydom collected the ball inside his own 22 and cleared upfield, he was taken out by a late challenge.

The referee awarded a penalty, with the ball landed midway into Cartha’s half and McLeish made no mistake, reducing the deficit to a single point.

Black struck the outside of a post as Cartha looked to take the lead and it eventually happened when Alan Howie found a gap out right and crossed the line. With Black off, Scott McInnes took over kicking duties, converting for 24-16.

Cartha put the ball deep into Hamilton’s half and Cowie took the lineout, with Strydom feeding the backs.

Gerry Hawkes broke through the middle, covering 60 metres before being caught just short but Hamilton kept possession and won a penalty.

A quick tap from Strydom took the game in front of the posts, where Morley secured ball. Sangster stepped in at scrum-half to feed back to McLeish and the young stand-off drop-kicked from 20 metres, reducing the deficit to 24-19.

As Hamilton pushed for another score, Nykky Malley was penalised and sin-binned, with McInnes’ kick taking Cartha’s lead to 27-19 and leaving the 14-man Bulls with a mountain to climb.

When Cartha won a scrum in front of the posts, Hamilton struggled to cope. Ian Cook broke from the scrum and fed Scott, who crashed over for his second try of the day. Although McInnes missed the conversion, the hosts led 32-19.

As the clock ran down and Hamilton were restored to 15 men, a good move involving Ross Inglis, Chris McLaughlin, Strydom, Malley and McGrath set up Hawkes for a consolation try, with McLeish converting for 32-26.

Hamilton play Irvine at Laigh Bent on Saturday. The match kicks off at 3pm.

l Hamilton’s Ross Inglis has been named in Grant McKelvey’s initial Scotland Under-18 training squad for the 2009-10 season.

The 34-man squad was selected after a performance review of players who spent a fortnight in Valladolid, Spain at a strength, conditioning and rugby camp in July and those invited to attend the national rugby camp at Struan, Perthshire, in August.

Players will be continually assessed throughout the season before the final under-18 squad selection for the Six Nations International Festival, which takes place in Wales in April 2010.