In perfect conditions on a glorious day, the Bears had to dig even deeper into their young squad as they were without Robbie Turnbull (injured), Garry McDermott (unavailable), Jason Cowburn  and Robert MacBeth (both suspended) with Lachlan Rowen and Hugh Spinaze coming into the squad.

“It was always going to be much tougher on Hamilton’s home soil and with the young players now expected to be able to handle what was dished up by their more experienced opponents,” Bears football manager Shane Johnson said.

Weston had two really good chances in the opening 20 minutes with Jake Millsteed having a goal disallowed and Jamie Subat not able to beat Hamilton keeper Brad Swancott.

Bears keeper Tim Pratt made two saves to deny Hamilton from scoring in the first half.

The Bears were still in the contest and went to half time at 0-0 and still hopeful of keeping their season alive.

The second half was only 10 minutes old when the Bears conceded two quick goals that knocked the wind out of their sails and was now going to require a massive comeback to remain in the hunt for some silverware.

Defender Liam Thornton got into the box seven minutes later and was brought down, which resulted in a penalty that Nathan Morris calmly converted.

Lady luck deserted the Bears not long after when a hand ball seemed to benefit Hamilton and assisted them in securing a third goal.

“Now the Bears were coming to grips with the effort put in during the year now not enough,” Johnson said.

“In the end the gallant Bears were not good enough on the scoreboard but the amount of young players given the opportunity to play first grade will hopefully be of a major benefit to them and the club for next year.”

Weston’s under-17s won their semi-final against second-placed Edgeworth 2-0 at Wanderers Oval on Sunday. They will represent the club on grand final day on Sunday, September 8 and are hoping to go one better than first grade in 2010 and the under-19s last year.

After a scoreless first half, the game appeared that whoever scored first would be the winner and when Caine Robinson beat his defender with 25 minutes left and got his shot on target and into the far corner it was the 1-0 lead the Bears needed against their highly rated opponents.

Lachlan Nicol, who was on a yellow card after coming together with his defender had the last laugh not much later when he shot from the edge of the box towards the far corner with the ball just going inside the post to now make it a 2-0 lead and certain victory.

Weston’s under-16s season was ended when they went down 1-0 against Charlestown at Branxton in the minor semi-final.

The Bears under-14s made up for their only loss of the season against Hamilton two weeks ago by beating them 4-0 in the major semi-final at Bellbird on Saturday.

All goals came in the second half with Brayden Mortimer scoring a brace, 13-year-old Kurt Nightingale (who came into the squad for Sam Hurney who went away on holidays) scoring the third and Jake Brownlow wrapping up the Bears’ victory with five minutes remaining.

The 14s will have their sights on the big one Saturday week at Fieldsend Oval, East Maitland (kick-off at 1pm).