Bulls 29 - Peebles 31

Hamilton Bulls entertained high flying Peebles at Laigh Bent on Saturday but agonisingly lost by 31 points to 29 with Peebles kicking the winning points in the final minute of a pulsating match.

Bulls began the match facing a low sun and were put under pressure from the kick off. Peebles scrum was totally dominant in the early exchanges. However they gathered themselves and after two well placed up and unders from Owen McLeish made good ground into Peebles 22. A misplaced pass however gave them the opportunity to break downfield forcing Hamilton into desperate defence. This became the pattern for the next 15 minutes, neither team gaining the upper hand until in the 17th minute Hamilton’s Brodie was yellow carded for killing the ball in a ruck. Peebles played simple phase rugby and released scrum half Wills to dart round the side of the ruck to touch down for the first score, converted by the excellent Greg Raeburn.

Bulls hit back immediately when they turned over ball deep in the Peebles 22 and after 3 phases, Turnbull released Adams who forced his way over in the corner. Mcleish’s conversion attempt was blown wide. Peebles went straight on to the offensive when flanker Britton out-jumped the Hamilton forwards to retrieve the kick off. Quick hands moved possession deep into the Hamilton 22 and when the ball was recycled to Raeburn, his clever delayed pass gave Anderson a clear run in for Peebles second converted try. Again play swung from end to end with both defences holding their own, although Ross Jamieson was sent to the sin bin for handling in the ruck. Bulls were unlucky when a clever kick ahead by Mcleish bounced back over the head of the charging Ben Plant to deny Hamilton a certain score. Hamilton’s defence was tested again and again by the Peebles rush defence (often straining the offside interpretation), and yet the Bulls seemed to be growing into the game and forced their way to earn a 5 metre lineout on 37 minutes. They closed the gap when Mcleish slotted a penalty against the wind. However the final word of the half went to Peebles and once again it was that man Raeburn who latched on to a lovely inside ball to run clear of the defence, and convert his own try. Half time 8 - 21

Bulls were caught napping from the kick off and when Peebles won turn over ball, that stand off / centre partnership worked again and Anderson was put through again to score under the posts. From here on in, Hamilton threw everything at their opponents but it took until the 60th minute for them to get the scoreboard moving again. This time Steven Turnbull got the try after patient forward phases left a gap at the ruck for him to dart over. Wilson converted.

A yellow card for a deliberate knock on by Peebles playmaker Raeburn gave Hamilton extra impetus and they redoubled their efforts. Unfortunately some overanxious handling, meant good scoring opportunities were squandered. Raeburn’s return to the action was short lived for he repeated the offence and was red carded. This time Bulls did take advantage when Turnbull repeated his scoring break for his second try, again converted by Wilson from wide out.

The home support began to believe that a come-back was possible. The Peebles forwards were tiring, and a lazy clear out by their hooker resulted in another yellow card with 8 minutes to play. Bulls immediately took play deep into Peebles 22 after some excellent handling and support play. The lead was captured with only 4 minutes remaining when Whitelaw forced his way over. Wilson’s conversion took the score to 29 – 28 in favour of the hosts. However Hamilton hearts were broken when number 9 Wills made a searing break from his own half. With support around him, Hamilton had to make some desperate last ditch tackles. The referee decided one of these was high, and from the resulting penalty, Brown kicked the winning points. This was a tale of what might have been, and confirms how difficult it will be for the Bulls to bounce back up to National 1.

Head coach, Kenny Brown said after the match “The boys showed good spirit to come from behind but we are frustrated with our performance today. It’s early in the season, we know we can be better and where we need to improve so we look forward to the challenge of Preston Lodge next week.”

Meanwhile the 3rd XV had a 64 – 22 bonus point win over GHA lions to top West Division reserve league 2.

Match report from
Jim Browning