Last-gasp pain for Hamilton
Late winner for Stewart’s Melville
Hamilton .......... 34 Stew-melville ... 35 Hamilton coach David Gemmell pointed to poor decision making as a costly defeat at Laigh Bent saw Stewart’s Melville cut the Bulls’ lead over them to two points.
The game opened at a furious pace and Hamilton were rewarded for their pressure when Steven Turnbull ran in under the posts to give an easy conversion, and Owen Mcleish didn’t disappoint.
However, when a misplaced pass was intercepted five minutes later Euan Morrison ran in a try with a similarly easy conversion, and Stew-mel were level.
Hamilton continued to attack and only desperate defending, and Stew-mel giving up a succession of penalties on their own line prevented further scoring.
The Bulls continued to attack, but all they had to show for their efforts was a Mcleish penalty in 27 minutes.
The visitors had weathered the storm and grew in confidence, with Mike Hanning delivering a perfect pass to lock Alex Rappestad to score under the posts, with Hanning providing the conversion.
Hanning also supplied the extras on the stroke of half-time after centre Jack Hannay broke through weak defending to score, giving them a 21-10 lead.
Hamilton started the second half the same way they had the first, with a great break by Adam Ryan leading to a try for Andrew Wilson, with Mcleish converting.
Substitute Craig Inglis was denied by desperate defending, but fellow sub Scott Alexander bagged Hamilton’s third try in the corner following strong work from the pack, with Mcleish’s conversion taking them into a 24-21 lead.
The bonus point try came straight from the kick-off, when wing Jack Howatson emerged with the ball from broken play on his own line.
Howatson’s crossfield kick was hacked on by Craig Inglis to touch down wide on the right, with Mcleish’s conversion scraping the outside of the post.
Stew-mel conceded another try in 58 minutes when Yan Young barrelled over off the side of a maul, but the conversion was missed, leaving the score at 34-21.
With time running out, Stew-mel grabbed their fourth try through Sebastian Trotter, with Hanning’s conversion pulling it back to 34-28.
When a pass was intercepted in midfield, it was fed to Sean Murchie to score under his posts from his own line, with Hanning’s conversion clinching the game for Stewart’s Melville right at the death.
Coach Gemmell said: “Defensive errors and decision making at crucial points in the game cost us dear.”