Hammies confident of another win against lowly Bellville

IT should be another easy day at the office for Hamiltons when they play Bellville in a Western Province Super League A match in Green Point today.

And a five-point haul will move the hosts up a few places to third on the standings, seven points adrift of log-leaders Durbanville/Bellville.

These two open clubs seem set to slug it out for a place at next year’s Community Cup, which was formerly the national club rugby championship.

But for Hammies to stake a meaningful challenge will require an unbeaten run over the next few weeks, including a match-up with Durb/Bell who they comfortably beat in the first round.

“I’m pretty confident we are on the right track,” said Hammies coach Anton Moolman.

“We disappointed by losing away to neighbours SK Walmer in the return leg after winning the first, which set us back quite a bit. But we bounced back nicely to win two on the trot albeit it against lower sides.”

Hammies certainly hit the mark last weekend when they put nine tries past visiting Tygerberg, the four-try bonus point clinched as early as the first half. Right wing Terry Jacobs cashed in with four five- pointers as the home side scored 33 points in the second half to complete a runaway victory.

Worrying, though, for Moolman is the fact that his charges let the opposition run in four tries of their own.

“That’s obviously something we’ve looked at and worked on during the week, we have to be more defensively sound even if we are well ahead on the scoreboard,”Moolman said.

“Having said that I must say we impressed with our finishing when presented with scoring opportunities. Shane (Vallender) was excellent in his first start as first receiver, and the forwards combined well with the backs to set the ball rolling for what was to come.”

For Bellville, who have won just two of their 11 matches to date, it is time to step up to the plate in their maiden season in the top flight.

At times they have shown prom- ise as an all-round unit but have not done themselves any favours with their poor finishing in the score zone.

No doubt they will be looking to iron out deficiencies with ball in hand and give the ball plenty of air to allow for a lively back division to strike.

But whether they have the selfbelief to realise a shock win remains to be seen. They’re up against a host side full of confidence and one just has to fear for their chances, especially away from home.