Hamilton boost promotion hopes with win over second-place Howe of Fife.

Mar 3 2011 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

HAMILTON boosted their promotion hopes with a narrow but vital win over third-placed Howe of Fife.

The slender win gives the Bulls a 12-point lead over Howe in Premier 3, and has cut the gap on league leaders Whitecraigs to seven points.

This wasn’t a game for the faint-hearted as it went right to the wire, but the home fans were delighted to finally get a win over the Fife side at the third time of asking.

Both sides attacked in the early stages but Howe went closest, with only a good steal by Steven Morley preventing Will Wardlaw from scoring; Stevie Turnbull clearing the danger.

Howe tried again, with Robert Cowie and Morley keeping them at bay, before the usually reliable Owen McLeish missed a Hamilton penalty.

But Howe managed to gain turnover ball, which was fed to Fraser Clark and he broke through the middle, with Dom Martin converting for a 7-0 lead.

With Hamilton pressing hard, tempers flared and Howe’s Mike Virgo and Hamilton’s Tamati Rhind were soon sin-binned.

Turnbull took a quick tap penalty to get the game underway again and Fraser Watt burst clear, taking the ball to just short of the line, before Ross Inglis took over and went in at the corner, pulling the score back to 7-5.

Hamilton tried to get in front but were denied when McLeish sent a second penalty attempt wide.

Howe’s drop-out was brought straight back by David McGrath and Cowie and, with the pressure mounting, only the half-time whistle saved the visitors from falling behind.

Hamilton took the game to their visitors in the second half and when Cowie was clattered, the hosts were awarded a scrum.

John Selfridge picked up and fed the ball out to Ash Mason, who darted through the defence for a spectacular score under the posts, with McLeish converting for a 12-7 lead.

Chris McLaughlin collected the restart and McGrath burst through the midfield before setting McLeish free – only for another clash of players leaving the Hamilton man dazed, with Howe’s Richie Mortimer having to go off with a cut to his head.

Hamilton tried to stretch their lead but were penalised and this allowed Howe to clear their lines.

Against the run of play Howe’s Chris Mason pounced on a loose ball and set Conor Dow free to put in a telling pass for Clark to crash over. Martin converted, putting Howe ahead 14-12.

This lead didn’t last long, however, as from the restart Cowie set up McGrath to burst clear and he in turn fed inside to Richie Maxton, who powered into the Howe defenders.

A penalty was awarded and McLeish made no mistake this time to put Hamilton ahead by a point with 15 minutes left on the clock.

Howe threw everything they had at Hamilton, but the Bulls held firm.

With the game almost at an end, Howe were awarded a penalty but rather than going for a kick which would have won them the game, they opted to tap and threw the ball out wide.

As it was moved to the wing a loose pass was pounced upon by Mason, who kicked for touch and the referee ended the game.