The weather God’s played their part as they dished out a magnificent afternoon on Saturday for the top of the table clash between unbeaten rivals Hamilton’s and False Bay beckoned.
A real Southern Suburb humdinger was on the cards as the support and interest in the game swelled during the break. This showed as the crowd did not disappoint and poured in to watch and see who would retain the mantle of the only undefeated side in the Super League A.
The match was officiated by top Currie Cup Referee Quinton Immelman who handled the game with aplomb allowing it flow into the spectacle it was hoped to be.
The Bay played with a strong South Easterly wind at their backs in the first half which helped maximise their territorial advantage with flyhalf Andri Claassen using his educated left boot to keep them in our half.
They attacked the breakdown in the first half which resulted in a number of turnovers and penalties which Claassen took full advantage of and slotted 6 penalties on the day with a brilliant display of goal kicking in testing condition’s.
Hamilton’s managed to score the first try of the game after a great break from Morgan Newman allowed Monty Dumond to show and go, leaving the Bay defence standing as he dotted down near the posts to register the only points in the first half for the home team.
The Bay scored on half time after a neat move saw tight head prop, Ashley Wells, throw a neat 20m pass which to find Danie Roux who dotted down in the corner.
Half Time 20-7 to False Bay
Hamilton’s shifted into a different gear in the second half having addressed focus area’s during the interval taking the game by the scruff of the neck, producing possibly the best 40 minutes of the season to date.
5 unanswered tries was the result with Earl (Dancing Feet) Lewis causing headaches out wide as he mesmerized the defence and created opportunities for himself and his fellow team mates.
We had nullified the Bay onslaught with our resolute and aggressive defense, dominated the set phases and collisions and ensured that we kept piling on pressure and turning the pressure into points.
Our loose trio were magnificent with Rowe , Burch and Cloete working in tandem, they gradually gained the upper hand in the battle for the ball.
The opening try in the second half came from a neat intercept by Jandre Du Plessis close to our goal line. Jandre kicked ahead with Janno Van Zyl winning the race to ball but a high tackle in the process of scoring left referee Immelman with no choice but to award a penalty try.
Super Sub Frana Esterhuisen scored off the kick off with a solo effort from 50m out to put the cat among the pigeon’s as the Bay realised they had surrendered their lead and were now chasing the game.
Earl Lewis secured the bonus point try after a quick tap by Dumond and released a flying Chris Cloete. His perfectly weighted offload found Earl who wrong footed the defence to score out wide.
Confidence was now at a high and with the Hammies team playing total 15 man rugby. Esterhuyzen eventually rounded off after a driving maul and Jandre Du Plessis scored after a neat set phase strike play as his support line allowed him to take the pass form Earl Lewis to score untouched.
Our substitutions were dynamic and swung the game with all players having a big impact.
The final score being a 40-23 victory that sets us up for another big clash next weekend against Maties as we look to build on this performance and continue to move towards in the right direction.
To all the Hamilton supporters that turned out a massive thank you it means an immense amount to the Team we look forward to seeing you at our last Home game this Saturday.
By Anton Moolman
Big Thanks to Ricardo Booysen for the images