The Rothesay men travelled with high hopes of improving on the point picked up in the sides' goalless draw on January 23, and looked a good bet to collect at least a share of the spoils when skipper Whitelaw levelled the match early in the second half.

But Hamilton took heart from an inspirational performance by their goalkeeper and went on to seal the win with two late goals of their own.

The match was played on the all-weather surface at the Jock Stein Centre in Hamilton, an environment which should have suited the islanders' style of play against the more robust approach of the home side.

And that was how the game panned out in the opening stages, with the Danes threatening down both flanks and the home side forced to resort to a more physical approach to apply pressure to their visitors.

Unfortunately for the Rothesay men, the match referee was content to allow the Hamilton players to knock the islanders out of their stride - and the tactic proved highly effective for the home side, who took the lead shortly before half time when the Brandanes defence was too slow in trying to clear a corner.

Trailing 1-0 at the break, the Danes kicked off the second half with plenty of endeavour, and soon began to take a grip of the game.
And it was no surprise when the visitors levelled the match, Wes Pattison outstripping the home defence before being upended inside the box for a clear penalty, Whitelaw stepping up to slam home the spot-kick.

The Danes were thoroughly dominating the game now, and only some outstanding saves from the Hamilton keeper prevented the islanders taking the lead, the pick of the bunch being a superb diving save to keep out a net-bound Scott McCormack header.

The match swung on that fantastic stop, and a newly-inspired home side regained the lead when Danes keeper Cemal Hassan could only parry a high, looping cross and an inrushing Hamilton forward lunged bravely at the rebound to knock it into the net, the attacker receiving a nasty injury for his efforts.

Hassan made amends a few minutes later, keeping the Danes in the game with a fine penalty save after McCormack was adjudged to have tripped a Hamilton player inside the box, but there was nothing the visiting stopper could do ten minutes from the end when an 18-yard shot evaded his reach and nestled in the corner of the net to tie up the points for the home side.

* Saturday's other first division results were as follows: Milngavie Wanderers 1 Dalziel HSFP 1; Weir Rec 1 Symington Tinto 3; Rhu 0 Gartcosh 0.

This Saturday, February 13, the Brandanes are back on home soil when Rhu Amateurs are the visitors to Bute for a Caledonian League
fixture, kicking off at 2.30pm.

The Ardenconnel Park team have had an even greater struggle for consistency this season than the Danes, having managed to play only seven league matches - one fewer than their Rothesay hosts - due to
postponements and cup commitments.

Those seven games have yielded just one win and one draw, though those good results were achieved against two teams - Dalziel and Gartcosh respectively - who are challenging for promotion at the top of the table, and so a close game looks in prospect for Saturday.