Accies 1, Rangers 2: Saturday, 24 January 1998

Accies put their poor league form aside yesterday and gave Rangers the fright of their lives. Walter Smith showed Accies respect by fielding his strongest team. To his credit, Sandy Clark did likewise, with Andy McCondichie on loan again from Celtic in place of the injured Allan Ferguson.

The game took the expected pattern, whereby Rangers had a lot of possession. However, the surprising thing was that, particularly in the first half, they created very few chances. The credit for this must go to the entire Accies team, with a special mention to Sandy Clark for his tactics. I must confess that I was very worried when I saw that Wolfie was marking Paul Gascoigne, but he did a great job, restricting fat boy to only a couple of threatening runs. He was so ineffective that he was substituted well before the end.

Halfway through the first half, I heard a couple of guys behind me start up one of the tribal chants about "Derry's walls". This really annoyed me and I shouted at the bloke that the main stand was supposed to be for Hamilton fans. "I'm from Hamilton" came the reply. Just as we were beginning to argue, a policeman intervened and told the Rangers fan to behave! (I met the guy later on in the Fir Park club and he turned out to be ex-Accies goalkeeeper, George McMillan, who played 14 games in 1962-63. We had a good chat and he bought a round of drinks for me and my pals.) The important point about this is that the stand had hundreds of Rangers fans in it. I spoke to a policeman at half time and he said that he was only there to keep the peace. The only conclusion is that Accies must have sold tickets to these non-Accies fans.

Back to the game. Accies made the mistake of scoring too soon. My view of the goal was obscured by a poor seat in the stand and the alcohol in my body, but following a free kick, the ball was knocked around the Rangers penalty box before Steve McCormick smacked it home. DELIRIUM!!! We went absolutely berserk, falling over seats etc. Fir Park is a dangerous ground when your team scores, as the seats are far too close together. Funnily enough, there were loads of people in the Accies stand who weren't celebrating. Hmmmm...

It was vital that we could get to half time still ahead, but then Brian Laudrup made his only real contribution to the game, skinning the defence down the right before cutting back for Gordon Durie to tap home. This followed another spell of Rangers pressure which still didn't involve McCondichie having to make a save. Throughout the first half, he only had cross catching practice.

For the second half, Rangers brought on their German dud, Albertz, for their Danish one, Stensaas. This made no difference at all. The more crucial change was when Jim Sherry had to be replaced by John McQuade after 58 minutes. The midfield lost some of it's bite after this and Rangers created more chances. McCondichie made great saves from a Gascoigne header and an Albertz piledriver.

At this stage it began to dawn on me that we had a real chance of taking them to a replay and earning big money. The Rangers fans were beginning to drift away. Everyone was happy. The stadium clocked had been switched off. Then, just as we were wondering if referee Stuart Dougal's watch was broken, disaster struck. Following an Accies attack, Rangers broke upfield and when the ball came to Richard Gough just outside the penalty area, he flicked it over everyone into the net. This was probably the only time when Andy McCondichie's positioning let him down. To say that this was devastating is an understatement. I was shattered and one of my friends broke down. It really was that bad.

Accies had no failures, although Paul Ritchie didn't seem to contribute much and should have been replaced by David McFarlane. Steven McCormick deservedly won the man of the match award. Ultimately, however, what lost us the match was the fact that the referee added several minutes of injury time at the end of the second half. Accies didn't resort to time wasting and there were no significant injuries. Maybe we should have a whip round and send Stuart Dougal a new watch.

Accies : McCondichie, Thomson, Renicks, McEntegart, Cunnington, Craig, McCormick, Sherry (McQuade 58), Ritchie, Clark and McKenzie.

Rangers : Goram, Cleland, Stensaas (Albertz 45), Gough, Porrini, Bjorklund, Thern, Gascoigne (Johannson 77), Durie, Ferguson (McCall 65), Laudrup.

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