Hamilton Rugby Club boss says there is still room for improvement

Sep 17 2009 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

IAN Morrison has warned that Hamilton have still to hit top gear, despite the Bulls pulling themselves up into third spot in the Scottish Hydro Premier 3 table with a comfortable win over Irvine.

The five-try bonus point win puts the Laigh Bent side’s campaign back on track, as they bid to bounce straight back up to Premier 2.

Delighted Morrison said: “This was the ideal way to bounce back after our defeat away to Cartha Queen’s Park last Saturday.

“The boys have shown real determination in training over the last week, and while I still think we have room for improvement it was heartening to see that we attacked from so many different positions throughout the afternoon.

“We still haven’t managed to field our strongest side, yet we are in third position in Premier 3, only three points behind the leading two sides.

“With everyone fighting for their place as the squad comes up to full strength, the coaches have some difficult decisions to make – but these are difficulties that are nice to have.”

Former Hamilton man Kenny Diffenthal got things underway for Irvine and it didn’t take long to see why he was a Laigh bent favourite, when in the first attack the South African slotted a 40-metre penalty after Skye referee Paul Wood penalised the Bulls for offside.

Hamilton tried to get back into the game, but Irvine settled into a rhythm and the closest the hosts came was when Owen McLeish pulled a 40-metre penalty wide.

The Bulls were reduced to 14 when, as Irvine’s Mornay Strydom attempted to clear, Chris McLaughlin dived in and the winger was immediately sin-binned.

Even with the numerical advantage Irvine struggled to break down a strong defence and when Richie Maxton found Ron Strydom from a lineout the scrum-half was illegally halted and McLeish slotted the penalty to tie at 3-3 after 25 minutes.

Hamilton won a penalty at the restart and Dave McLean made a strong break through the centre.

As he lost the ball the referee brought things back for another penalty and a yellow card for Irvine’s John Hale, just as McLaughlin returned for the Bulls.

Just as it looked like Irvine were going to hold out until being restored to 15, a poor pass from Ruchin Filander at a lineout was pounced on by Strydom, John Selfridge took the ball on and was stopped just short, but the visitors were penalised.

Strydom took a quick penalty, moving ball right and creating a clear path for Steven Morley to cross the line, with McLeish adding the conversion for 10-3.

Just ahead of the interval Hamilton were denied a score due to a forward pass, but the try was merely delayed.

Despite being driven back at the scrum Filander picked up at the back and broke up the right, but was stopped by McLeish. Ball was recycled through Jason Agnew, Russell Coutts, Richie Maxton and Chris McGeogh, and when Strydom fed Selfridge he crashed over, with McLeish converting for 17-3 at half-time.

In a repeat of the first period Diffenthal knocked over a penalty, which was soon cancelled out by McLeish, taking the score to 20-6.

Hamilton stepped up the pressure but with 52 minutes gone any hope Irvine had of getting back into the game ended when Andrew Lang was red-carded for hitting Strydom late and with a straight shoulder.

McLeish put the kick to the corner and Maxton secured the ball from David McGrath’s throw and McLean made a strong run through the middle, recycling for Selfridge to go.

When he was stopped a metre short the pack arrived in numbers to regain possession and Strydom fed left where Gerry Hawkes crashed over in the corner. Despite the angle McLeish converted for 27-6.

With 10 minutes left Hamilton created another good move, and when Selfridge was forced out midway inside the Irvine 22, Maxton stole the lineout and Strydom fed right, with strong running from McLean and Selfridge taking play toward the posts, where Agnew crashed over. McLeish again converted.

Irvine stopped a Hamilton score from being grounded and then grabbed two tries of their own, through Gordon Brown and Cliff Blair.

However, when Hamilton were awarded a penalty for offside, quick thinking by Strydom saw him pounce on the ball and launch a huge kick towards the distant corner flag, where Craig Inglis tore down the wing to pull the ball in before flopping over in the corner. Again, despite the angle, McLeish slotted for 41-16.