Last week’s statement victory over Gordonians sent a message to the rest of the league that GHK were going to be serious contenders this season. The challenge this week was to show they could back that performance up away from the leafy suburbs of Glasgow’s west end. Hamilton had a tough opening fixture away at Newton Stewart and were looking to bounce back quickly on their home turf.

The home side dominated the opening exchanges. Some delayed passes from their fly half sent direct runners through gaps in GHK’s midfield. However, it was GHK who were to open the scoring with a stunning length of the field effort. Ben Frame proved last week’s SBW offload was no fluke with a backhander to Grant Anderson. He and Craig Gossman drew their men and passed to release Gavin McKirdy who scampered in from the halfway line.

It did not take long for Hamilton to respond though. With penalty advantage, the fly half picked out another ball carrier to crash over under the posts. Their kicker levelled the score – game on.

GHK regained possession from the restart; setting up a driving maul which gave Blair Hastie the chance to show his ability in the loose. Charging like an angry bison on ice, the loosehead beat a couple of defenders before being hauled down on the 22. The ball was recycled to the right-hand side and Tommy Spinks did well to finish in the corner.

The Bulls were not deterred though. Some more direct running off 9 and 10 created space out wide for their full back to score in the left-hand corner. This gave them confidence and they started to build some pressure in GHK’s half. What the Weegies needed was someone to make a big play to relieve that pressure. Step forward Ben Hutton. Hamilton looked threatening moving from left to right in GHK’s 22 when Hutton read their attack brilliantly to intercept and run the length.

The GHK Lions smelled blood and followed the interception up with a great team try, finished by number 8, Hugh Parker. It all started from a penalty won by Angus North on the halfway. Anderson kicked to the corner and the driving maul gave the backs a platform to execute a gorgeous move which Parker gladly finished off.

Hamilton were not going to fade away easily though and were soon deep into GHK’s 22 again. Time for the captain to take the Bulls by the horns. Two excellent steals on the try-line from Craig Rintoul gave GHK some breathing space. They worked their way up the field and the ball eventually found its way to Hutton on the left flank who beat his man to score his second of the game. Danny Campbell added the extras to make it 12-29 at half time. The game was much closer than the score suggests, though.

               GHK started the second half as they finished the first. A couple of probing attacks gave them field position in Hamilton’s 22. Another patient driving maul enabled Feargus Haston to flop over the line. To continue the theme of the match, Hamilton came roaring back into the GK half. Some outstanding scramble defence from GHK somehow kept them out when a score looked inevitable. Another runaway try for Hutton followed; the winger’s hat trick score was a sucker punch for Hamilton who had looked dangerous when on the front foot.

               From there the ebb and flow of the match was disrupted by a number of injuries and substitutions. The disjointed nature of the game seemed to suit GHK a bit better as their broken field runners had space to exploit the widening gaps in the opposition’s defence. A quick tap from Campbell sent Spinks through a huge hole and the second row showed great skill to beat a defender and throw a perfect twenty-yard pass to Hutton who scored his fourth try of the game.

               Even though the result was not in doubt, Hamilton kept running hard at GHK. However, GHK’s defence, typified by some thunderous hits from David Patterson on debut, held firm and ensured there would be no cheap scores for the Bulls. There was still time for one last score though as replacement hooker Cian Shelts-Smith crashed over from close range.

Full time: Hamilton Bulls 12 – 57 GHK.

Though the score line might suggest another dominant performance, in truth the game was a much tighter affair. Hamilton will be frustrated that they didn’t convert their time in GHK’s 22 into more points. On the flip side, GHK took pretty much every opportunity they got and added a few breath-taking scores from deep when there appeared to be nothing on. The defence tightened up as the game progressed which nullified Hamilton’s direct game plan.

In terms of individual performances there were a few outstanding contributions. Four tries for Ben Hutton in what was a breathless 80 minutes. Grant Anderson controlled the game and produced several nice breaks and offloads. It was telling that when he went off the team’s cohesion dropped. Craig Rintoul lead from the front and his aforementioned steals were critical when GHK were under the cosh. Angus Troop made a big impact off the bench on debut. However, the Edinburgh Gin Player of the Match goes to another debutant; David Patterson. The blindside flanker did the cliched ‘work that nobody sees’; cleaning up loose balls and carrying hard in tight areas along with the more eye-catching rib-ticklers that he dished out all game.

Next up, Accies at Old Anniesland under the Friday Night Lights. Should be a quiet affair…