Chaos: 13-man Hamilton hit back to share points with Merewether

In the end, the Greens and Hawks split the the points after a chaotic 33-all draw at Passmore Oval on Saturday.

The Hawks played the final 30 minutes with 13 men after winger Fiso Vasegote and breakaway Liam Bowden were sent off after each received two yellow cards.

The Greens, who trailed 26-7 after 42 minutes, made the most of the numerical advantage to draw level at 26-all in the 60^th minute.

The home side appeared shot. Their scrum was in reverse and fatigue had weakened their defensive line.

However, they lifted and regained the lead when Raniera Petersen darted down the short side from a scrum 10 metres out. Tute Grant, who earlier had missed an easy penalty, landed the conversion for 33-26 with seven minutes remaining.

Merewether, who had been guilty of pushing passes, had one last crack.

This time they were patient. They were camped at the Hamilon end for five phases before prop Nik Sykiotis picked the ball up from a ruck and wrestled his way over. Toby Wait added the extras.

"When they went down to 13, we put two tries on them and opened them up," Munro said. "Then they controlled the ball really well. If any team can hold you out with 13 players, it's Hamilton. They have some smart players and played sensible rugby. We did some dumb things and went away from the game plan."

Berry was proud of the character the Hawks showed but perplexed at the send offs which turned the match.

"It was disappointing to play the past 30 minutes with 13 players," Berry said. "It is pretty hard to play the type of game we play with 13 men. Besides the fatigue factor, it is hard to attack. We couldn't create overlaps and gaps like we did in the first half. The positive was the attitude. They were able to fight through it and get three points out of the game."

Vasegote received two yellow cards for intentionally knocking the ball down. His second was also ruled a penalty try.

In between, the winger grabbed an intercept and raced 80 metres only to be flagged for putting a foot into touch.

"If Fiso is going for intercepts, not slap downs, why is getting a yellow card," Berry said.

Bowden was given a yellow card for a late, high tackle on Hayden O'Brien. As he was walking from the field, the breakaway was ruled to have led with his head in an exchange with Merewether lock Ollie Kelly.

Elsewhere Saturday, Maitland had to work overtime to beat a plucky University 43-28. The Students lead 28-26, but Pat Batey and Jock Barry crossed late for the Blacks.

At No.2 Sportsground, forwards Marcus Christensen and Ngaruhe Jones crossed for doubles as Wanderers accounted for Southern Beaches 62-26.