Accies 2 Stenhousemuir 1: Tuesday, 14 March 2000

This was another of those totally bizarre second division evenings. As we swept into the car park (totally ignoring the first attendant), the second one caught us and tried to extort the parking fee of no less than £2.00. I thought he was kidding, but he insisted that £2.00 was the fee. Pishing ourselves with laughter at this, we smartly parked in the street and got into the sparsely populated ground just after kick off.

Accies were on familiar lines, although Gordon Hunter and Chris Hillcoat were missing through injury. The absence of Gordon Hunter in particular was exposed in the ninth minute when Stenhousemuir took the lead through Martin Mooney after some slack defensive play from Accies.

However, although this gave our opponents a huge boost, it's got to be said that Stenny were only dangerous very occasionally. The Accies midfield took a firm grip of the game after this, with fine performances from Ian McAulay and Eddie Cunnington in particular. It was Cunnington who equalised for Accies after 32 minutes, with what must be a contender for our best goal of this disappointing season. Good midfield play left Darren Henderson clear on the left, but his powerful shot was well saved by Lindsay Hamilton. The ball rebounded and was laid back to Cunnington, who thumped a scorcher into the roof of the net from 20 yards. During the celebrations, one of the Stenny players was booked for trying to impede an Accies man.

The second half play was very similar to that in the first half, with the majority of the good play coming from the Accies midfield. Many good chances were created, but sadly neither Darren Henderson nor Ian Ferguson had their shooting boots on. Just as we were beginning to think that another two points were going to be squandered, Accies scored a winner with 11 minutes left. A good volley from Eddie Cunnington was well blocked by Lindsay Hamilton, but Nicky Henderson was there to lift the rebound over the prone goalkeeper.

Accies were unfortunate not to increase the margin of victory in the closing stages, during which the visiting defender who had been booked in the first half was red carded for a second crime.

The Accies players received a well earned ovation from the fans at the end of the game. They certainly deserved to win the game, but I'm still a bit concerned by the defence and attack. Accies really missed the skill of Jose Quitongo and the calming influence of Gordon Hunter at the back. The midfield was great.

Finally, I think the Accies players are due a great deal of credit for playing so well under difficult circumstances. I've been told that the players have been paid some money and that the rest will be paid soon, presumably from the turnstile takings of the Partick game on Saturday.

Accies : Reid, McLaren, Davidson, Gaughan, Thomson, Bonnar, McAulay (Crossley), N Henderson, Ferguson (McCormick), Cunnington, and D Henderson

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