Accies slumped to a 2-2 draw with Arbroath today in a match which they dominated and should have won by a large margin.
It all started so well and Accies were two up within the first 25 minutes. The first goal came moments after Steven Thomson had committed the cardinal sin of skying a shot well over the bar. Just as I was passing comment that a professional should do better, he did. Jose Quitongo was given a bit of space on the left and he absolutely skinned the full back. His cut back went to Darren Henderson, who made space for himself before blasting a shot straight at the keeper. The rebound fell nicely for Steven Thomson 15 yards out and he buried his shot low into the corner.
The second goal was even better. Jose eluded the defence on the left again and this time he crossed to the unmarked Martin Bonnar 8 yards out and he buried his header well past the Arbroath keeper. So things were going quite nicely at half time.
Just after half time, Accies contrived to miss a couple of clear chances, either of which would have made the game safe. Firstly, Steven McCormick made a pitiful attempt at a good cross from Martin Bonnar and then Darren Henderson skied a volley about 30 yards over the bar from a good position. At this point, dark thoughts began to enter my mind about Accies never being able to finish off teams when they're 2-0 up. It couldn't happen again, could it?
Just after this the game took on a nasty atmosphere. Veteran striker Colin McGlashan chased a long punt from the Arbroath goalie and was denied by a combination of Chris Reid and a couple of his defenders. Reid came away with the ball just outside the penalty box, but it was clear that McGlashan had been injured by the tackle. So, naturally, Reid put the ball into touch despite being in a good position to play the ball forward. McGlashan was treated, but when Arbroath took their throw in they made no attempt to return the ball. Legal ? Absolutely. Sporting ? Absolutely NOT. I must confess that I exchanged shouts with one of the Arbroath supporters who responded to my shout of "cheat" with a laugh and a witty retort of "How can he be a cheat if he's playing to the rules?" This incident alone makes me hope, for once, that Motherwell win their cup tie on Monday by about a dozen or so.
Despite Chris Reid having to make a superb diving save from a netbound header, Arbroath didn't offer much in the way of attacks and Accies had the territorial advantage for much of the second half, with Martin Bonnar and Jose Quitongo particularly effective. So it was a surprise when Arbroath pulled a goal back with 10 minutes left.
A long ball from their defence was headed on to Colin McGlashan, who was in a clearly offside position. The linesman flagged immediately, but the referee allowed McGlashan to continue and he scored with a low shot past Reid. The Accies defence and supporters were outraged, but in my opinion the referee was correct as the flick-on had been from the head of one of the Accies defenders, probably Chris Hillcoat.
You can guess the rest. The entire Accies team got jittery and it was a question of when Arbroath would score again, rather than "if". As it turned out, the goal was an excellent shot from the edge of the box - and the Arbroath team and bench went crazy. This broke my rule that you should never lose a goal after quarter to five, in fact the goal went in at ten to five. The referee had managed to find three extra minutes in the second half.
So another two points lost from a winning position and an extremely frustrating afternoon. At least we're no longer ninth, having crept past Stenhousemuir. My general feeling about Accies was that it was a good performance from most of the team today. There were no real failures, although I thought Ian McAuley struggled a bit. Ross McLaren, Martin Bonnar and Jose Quitongo were the star men. Finally, I'm getting a wee bit irritated by the abuse which Steven McCormick gets every week. I agree that he did miss a chance which could have won Accies the game, but I thought his general play today was very good. If only he could score the odd goal - he is supposed to be a striker after all.
Accies : Reid, McLaren, Hillcoat, Hunter, Gaughan, Thomson, Bonnar, McAulay, McCormick (Ferguson), Quitongo (Cunnington), and D Henderson
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