Bulls are hampered by injury to their kicker
Conversions came back to haunt Hamilton as they crashed to a narrow 34-32 defeat to Glasgow Accies on Saturday.
The result leaves the Bulls sixth in Tennent’s National League 2.
Accies’ dominance in the set-piece meant Hamilton’s backs were starved of good possession and spent long periods in defence.
But it was ultimately their kicking that let them down, having taken a late lead, only to lose by an even later try.
Hamilton fell behind early in the first half, after Robert Mcnaught kicked a penalty, following a strong scrum drive.
Accies were immediately on the attack again, and following two fivemetre scrums, number 8 Tommy Spinks picked up and drove over, with Mcnaught converting for a 10-0 lead.
The hosts could have scored again when they broke through midfield, but a wayward kick allowed Nathan Brown to kick it dead.
However, from the five-metre scrum, Accies’ dominance led to a penalty try and a 17-0 lead.
Hamilton were forced into changes in the front row and, despite a little more stability, they were still under the cosh up front.
However, they fought back and, within two minutes of the restart, Ben
Plant chased a well-placed kick and was tackled off the ball, with the Bulls awarded a penalty try, reducing the leeway to 17-7.
Full-back Jack Mccready was yellowcarded for his part in the incident and although Hamilton plugged away at the Accies defence, it was almost half-time before Ross Inglis scored after chasing down a charged down kick.
Inglis won the race for the touchdown, but at considerable cost to himself when he slid into the perimeter fencing. He got back up to attempt the conversion, but was clearly hampered and was unsuccessful.
The second half began badly for Hamilton when a kick to the corner wasn’t fielded cleanly, allowing Colin Taylor to scoop up the loose ball and dive over in the corner, though the conversion was unsuccessful.
Hamilton made two changes in the backs, bringing on Andrew Crawford and Scott Whitelaw, with Crawford grabbing a try.
When Accies’ clearing kick failed to find touch, Crawford collected the ball some 30 metres out, fended off his opponent and sprinted for the line for an unconverted try.
Hamilton finally claimed the lead with a great try by winger Ben Plant.
Captain Stephen Turnbull kicked a beautifully-weighted diagonal ball which Plant took on the full, and then weaved his way through the cover defence to score, again without converting.
Accies hit back in 65 minutes and, following a series of forward drives, Spinks burrowed over to leave an easy conversion for a 29-24 lead.
Hamilton retaliated; Euan Ferrie made good ground and offloaded to Plant, who was stopped just short, but quick recycled ball was fed to Gary Adams, who barged over, tying at 29-29.
In their enthusiasm to hit back, Accies’ restart was kicked dead.
From the ensuing scrum on half-way, Bulls were awarded a penalty. Despite several missed conversion attempts, Ross Inglis stepped up and fired a thunderous kick between the uprights to give his side a three-point lead with as many minutes left on the clock.
However, from kick-off, Bulls conceded two soft penalties which were kicked to the corner. The first was well defended and cleared, but from the second, hooker Tadgh Power was driven over, giving them the 34-32 win.
Hamilton taking two bonus points are small consolation from a game which they had targeted for a win, but with them being only two points off second-placed GHK, there is still all to play for.