Hamilton Rugby Club triumph 38-6 over Perthshire

Dec 17 2009 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

HAMILTON’S revival continued on Saturday as they recorded their third straight win under interim coach Stuart Eynon.

This six-try victory and other recent results have consolidated the Bulls in fourth spot in the Scottish Hydro Premier 3 table, and they opened up a six-point gap over their nearest rivals.

Hamilton immediately signalled their intent as Dan Bowater was hit hard by man of the match Elvis Levi as he collected Craig Inglis’s kick-off, but Perthshire were able to clear.

However, after a sustained period of pressure, Hamilton grabbed the opening try after five minutes.

John Selfridge collected a lineout and found Craig Sangster, whose high ball caused panic among the Perthshire backs as Hamilton charged forward to win a scrum.

Levi picked up at the back and fed left, where the ball was moved quickly to the wing and Ross Inglis darted around his opposite number to go over.

Owen McLeish missed a difficult conversion but Hamilton led 5-0.

Perthshire came straight back at Hamilton with Craig Assenti putting in a powerful run through the middle.

Only solid defending kept the visitors at bay, but eventually a penalty award enabled top scorer Erland Oag to bring the score back to 5-3.

This served as a wake-up call to Hamilton and from the restart Levi was up quickly on the Perth men, forcing a hurried clearance.

A free-kick decision allowed Perthshire to clear and when Hamilton brought possession back upfield there were groans from the home crowd as the referee brought play back for another infringement, rather than allowing a clear advantage to the Bulls.

However, Hamilton quickly tapped and burst through towards the 22. Gary Thornton collected and ran through the defence to score the second try.

McLeish made no mistake this time and Hamilton led 12-3.

Perthshire again came back from the restart and Rory Carmichael looked to have broken clear before being halted by a timely McLeish intervention.

The resulting scrum was again converted into a free-kick to the visitors and a quick tap caught Hamilton napping, allowing Oag to convert for 12-6.

Perthshire had another chance to reduce the deficit but Oag’s kick drifted wide of the upright.

Hamilton came out of the blocks at the start of the second half, with Nathan Denholm, Sangster, Gerry Hawkes and Craig Inglis making breaks towards the line.

Hamilton were moving the ball across the pitch but the game was increasingly becoming punctuated by the referee’s whistle and neither side could really get going.

But when McLaughlin and Gemmell made solid yards, Denholm popped the ball up for Russell Coutts to take 15 metres from the line, and the New Zealander raced in for try number three. McLeish’s conversion took the score to 19-6.

Hamilton secured the bonus point when, from a scrum, Ali Marshall drew his man and released Craig Inglis, who broke clear to run in try number four, with McLeish’s conversion extending the score to 26-6.

The Bulls were dominant and grabbed another score when Ross Inglis charged down Andy Whitelaw’s attempted clearance, forcing the ball behind for a drop-out.

Hamilton surged forward, earning a penalty. Denholm took a quick tap and raced through the middle, only to be pole-axed by prop Jimmy Whyte, who was shown a straight red card.

Hamilton didn’t wait long to take advantage. Maxton secured good ball in the lineout, Denholm fired it left and quick hands took it to Ross Inglis, who went over in the corner for a 31-6 lead.

As the game drew towards a close, Hawkes stole possession, danced around the close defence and supplied Craig Inglis, who broke clear.

As the cover defence closed in, he cleverly popped the ball to Chris McLaughlin for the final try of the day, with McLeish’s conversion providing the final 38-6 score.