THE Hamilton assistant coach Steve Anderson insisted his patchwork line-up did the club proud in spite of their 50-19 BT Scottish Cup defeat by Ayr.

Several frontline players were absent at the wedding in Yorkshire of club stalwart David Sutherland. Their absences were compounded when Stuart Whitelaw - a late replacement for David Lopez - pulled a muscle in the warm up session at Laigh Bent and also had to call off.

However, the hosts produced a plucky display and deserved their consolation three-try haul. Anderson said: "Ayr were very clinical, professional and physical - ultimately, that was the difference. When they got into the final third of the pitch they scored points. But I am delighted with the way our guys acquitted themselves.

"We asked them to play with pride and they certainly did that. We did look dangerous when we had the ball and I think we took Ayr by surprise by breaking the gain-line. Four of our backs are usually involved in second team rugby, however they put in a really good shift, especially Scott Whitelaw and David Deuchar."

While relieved to claim the expected quarter-final ticket, the Ayr coach Calum Forrester couldn't mask his frustration. He said: "We were rusty and made a lot of errors. The biggest disappointment was the nature of the tries we conceded, particularly the one from the driving lineout.

"That was unacceptable by our standards. We now have a burst of four matches in as many weeks, so we will be looking to get consistency back."

Gala's wretched season took another downward lurch as they crashed 40-5 to Stirling County at Netherdale. Two early touchdowns by Craig Gossman proved the foundation for Ayr's 50-13 success against a plucky Hamilton Bulls outfit at Laigh Bent. While the hosts never looked like pulling off a surprise win, they refused to buckle completely and made the seasiders work hard, scoring three times in the process. Howe of Fife did, however, claim a shock place in the quarter-finals by convincingly ousting GHA 31-7 at Duffus Park. Chris Mason emerged as the hero for the hosts, claiming all four of their tries to shock the Glasgow side from the division above.

Holders Heriot's survived a late rally from Currie to squeeze through 11-10 at Malleny Park. Hawick's fine form continued as they got the better of Edinburgh Accies 35-27 in an all-action encounter at Raeburn Place. Kelso were too strong for Musselburgh, earning a 33-19 win at Poynder Park. Meanwhile, Boroughmuir were untroubled in East Lothian as they swept aside the challenge of Lasswade 69-3