Young Bulls keep head up in tough league

On Saturday the Young Bulls travelled to face a Bourghmuir side that had won their first 3 matches of the season conceding only 19 points. It was anticipated by the coaches that this would be the Young Bull’s toughest test of what had already been a steep learning curve for this squad.
After conceding 2 early tries, Hamilton started to feel their way into the game with some ball retention and following a series of penalties conceded by the hosts, Blair Sutherland kicked a penalty and the Bulls were on the scoreboard.
Hamilton shocked Bourghmuir and their supporters by scoring the next try of the game when after some good structured play, Euan Ferrie, one of 3 players making their Bulls debut burst thru the ‘Muir’ defensive line to dot down under the posts with Blair Sutherland adding the conversion.
This seemed to spark Bourghmuir into life and a period which saw them have plenty of possession. Playing some lovely flowing rugby they started to move the ball around identifying gaps within the Hamilton defence and scoring 3 unanswered tries. It was at times great to watch, strong running, clever off loads and it was easy to see why they had started the season so well. That said at no point did Hamilton let their heads go down and continued to play the way their Coaches had asked them to.
This Hamilton U18 team were not about to roll over though and after a clever grubber kick in behind the Bourghmuir back line by No:10 Andrew Greenen , Jordan Craig gathered the rolling ball at the 1st attempt and scored in the left corner. With the conversion missed the half time score was 34 – 15.
The 2nd half saw injuries and fitness take it’s toll on the Young Bulls with Bourghmuir scoring 38 unanswered points.
A special mention must go out to the 3 debutants Euan Ferrie, Matthew Smith and Alistair Marriot who all played well considering they had only joined up with the squad this week and hadn’t played with any of the other players. Also to backs Dylan McWhirter, Lewis Reid and Blair Sutherland who all had to play some part of the game in the pack due to injuries.
Another positive to come from the performance was the complimentary remarks the Coaches received from Bourghmuir’s Coaches and Supporters with regards to our work ethic, attitude during the game.
Once again despite the result and score line this was another step forward for this squad of young men, showing that they are really starting to understand the structure and physicality it’s takes to play at this level of Youth Rugby.
The Coaches and players would again like to thank the travelling support which as always was greatly appreciated by all.
Next up a trip to Ayr on Saturday.
Phil Butcher