Hamilton kick themselves to victory in Dumbreck mud bath

CARTHA QP v Hamilton
Sat 8Dec 2018.

A pitch inspection had been carried out on the morning of this game. At that time it was not raining and the pitch had been judged to be playable. Prior to kick off the rain had started and by kick off it was pelting down.

CQP started this game minus any of their first three pick stand offs and without any of their recognised kickers on the park. Hamilton by contrast had Owen McLeish at number 10, a position he has occupied for many years. In the event this situation worked very much in the visitors favour as Hamilton managed to convert three out of the four dead ball conversions plus their only try. Especially in the second half McLeish took every opportunity of hoofing the ball down into the CQP half as possible giving, the ball as much air time as possible the ball was like a bar of soap and it was no surprise that quite often the receiver was unable to gather the ball safely. By adopting a kicking game Hamilton were able to keep play as far from their line as possible. Given that CQP had been awarded two penalty tries in the first half this made a great deal of sense from their perspective. Hamilton had taken the lead with a good try after thirteen minutes CQP forward pressure on the Hamilton line then lead to the concession of penalties by Hamilton as they desperately attempted to prevent a CQP push over. The ref however was clearly not prepared to see Hamilton prevent a score by means of foul play and by the twenty fifth minute had awarded CQP, whose pack at this stage was dominant, two penalty tries. Just before half time Hamilton were awarded a penalty which was converted to leave the score 14-10 in CQPs favour at the break. Both teams, by that point covered in mud, chose to escape the rain and return to the changing room.

When the teams re-emerged CQP were wearing fresh strips which for a time assisted the spectators in identification of the ball carriers. Early in the second half Hamilton added another converted penalty to their tally and before the end added another to put them into a 16-14 lead. CQP for their part tried hard to get the win by passing the ball but seemed to be unable to pierce the Hamilton defence and as the game progressed the CQP set piece domination was less obvious. Both defences held the upper hand and handling errors were frequent which was not in the least surprising given the slippy ball. Almost all the players were covered in mud by the end. Indeed it must have been very difficult for the ref to identify who was who. This game being a game between the bottom two teams in National 1 was obviously of great importance to both sides and it is a matter of speculation as to the outcome if the match had taken place in dry conditions.

FT Cartha QP 14(1). Hamilton 16(4) points