Hamilton Rugby Club suffer late defeat

Oct 15 2009 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

hamilton rugby club - 29 howe of fife - 31

HAMILTON were left heartbroken in Cupar as they watched Howe of Fife snatch victory in the dying seconds of a pulsating Scottish Hydro Premier 3 encounter.

The visitors got the game underway and new boys Elvis Levi and Craig Sangster had made early inroads before a Howe of Fife penalty allowed them to clear their lines.

Both sides attacked in the opening stages, with Craig Inglis surging towards the 22 only to be penalised for failing to release and Howe cleared.

Stolen ball by Gerry Hawkes was passed to Levi, who set Craig McLean free to break through the centre only to be halted by a forward pass just short of the line.

A good tackle by Ross Inglis stopped a Howe move out wide before the Bulls were awarded a penalty, with Owen McLeish sending it into touch.

Hamilton set up again through Richie Maxton and Russell Coutts made good ground before ball was fired out the backs for Chris McLaughlin to speed towards the line, drawing his opposite number and unloading to Hawkes for the opening try.

Howe of Fife responded quickly, with Graham Johncock crashing over in the corner to tie at 5-5 after 25 minutes.

Hamilton attacked again and Robert Cowie supplied good ball from a lineout, but the Bulls forwards were penalised as they drove forward.

However, Howe failed to find touch and Ross and Craig Inglis attacked again, earning a scrum from which Ron Strydom fed McLean, who burst through before supplying a telling pass to Craig Inglis who went over for the score.

McLeish tagged the points for a 12-5 lead.

Howe came back at Hamilton and in a good passing move ball was sent out wide to winger Andy McLean, who brought the score back to 12-10.

Although there were only a few minutes to go until half-time, Hamilton added a further two scores.

A flowing move involving Craig Inglis, McLeish and McLaughlin resulted in a penalty, with McLeish slotting for 15-10.

Then Cowie set Sangster free and he was able to find Strydom for a try which, when converted by McLeish, gave Hamilton a 22-10 half-time lead.

However, Howe roared back into things in the second half, and after a quick-tap penalty move stand-off Ian Aitken was stopped just short of the line by Ross Inglis.

A second penalty was quickly taken and Ian Wilson went over for a try, with Aitken converting for 22-17.

A good move involving Hawkes, Maxton and David McGrath saw Hamilton make up some ground before Levi took over, and when Cowie burst through only desperate tackling prevented him from scoring.

Howe momentarily eased the pressure with a penalty but Hamilton were back on the attack and when McLeish put a penalty into the corner Maxton took excellent ball and Coutts drove towards the line for a try, with McLeish converting for 29-17.

This served as a wake-up call for Howe, however, and they started to turn the screw on Hamilton.

A series of penalties were put into the corner only for Hamilton to disrupt the lineouts, killing the ball time after time until Cowie was eventually yellow-carded.

With Hamilton a man short, Howe continued with this tactic until they were eventually awarded a penalty try, pulling the score back to 29-24 with 15 minutes left.

Even when Hamilton were restored to 15 they were defending desperately and when Maxton was yellow-carded Howe seized their opportunity.

The penalty count against Hamilton was mounting up, and when one such award was quickly taken, full-back Aitken broke free and scored under the posts, converting his own try for 31-29 just moments before the full-time whistle sounded.