Report by Neil Graham
This match was held up for half an hour due to the Castlecary roadworks. Very few Accies fans made it (under 100).
Apparently, this spawned rumours in Lichtieland about whether or not Accies would take to the field. There was also some concern amongst Arbroath supporters about our players staging a protest by leaving the field during the game (if it happened) but thankfully or unfortunately, this never transpired. When Watson entered the main stand at the beginning of the game, he was welcomed with the now normal hostilities. Watson stirred it up by shouting at the assembled Accies fans to mind their own business, telling one to "go and have a shave ya bas****". His gentle approach did not go down too well.
Watson then made a complaint to the stewards and asked them to have the police remove us from the stand (the section in front of the main stand). The stewards began to threaten to remove the Accies fans but on defending our right to remain there the chief steward was persuaded not to take further action. It later transpired that Watson had informed the stewards about the events at Alloa; they had been given instructions to ensure that we did not enter the directors box. With this covert information gratefully received, the Watson abuse was turned up 100% and carried on for the entirety of the match.
As for the game, of the few I've been to this season this was one of the better ones, although the force 10 gale coming off of the shore was freezing and I was glad to hear the final whistle at the end. The first half was a bit of a dull affair with Accies having the slightly upper hand but there wasn't a great deal in it. I then missed the Arbroath goal (some match report this eh!) as I left the ground at half time to get more jumpers from the car!!! Just as I came back, Arbroath scored and it looked like the afternoon was over.
However, I was pleased with the way in which Accies responded; it was very encouraging to see the team playing with a bit of fight and spirit again. The equaliser came from some Jose Quitongo trickery down the right wing. The wee man skinned his marker, got to the byline, and put in a cross which bobbled about in the box and then somehow made it's way to James "The Snake" Coubrough, and from a mere 2 yards out he thundered in his first goal for the club. Cunnington, Bill Davidson and Davie MacFarlane were causing trouble for Arbroath down the left wing, and with Jose back on the right we were by far the stronger side in the second half.
Accies were very much in the ascendancy and should have scored again on several occasions, most notably from an Eddie Cunnington free kick. Arbroath had one or two chances, the best of which Iain McFarlane tipped onto the bar. Remarkably, the referee gave us a by kick. Steve McCormick replaced Gordon Hunter late on.
Best for Accies were Bill Davidson, Cunnington and Coubrough. Davidsons strong gutsy tackling controlled the midfield, Cunnington had a good game and Coubrough looked very sharp. The whole team played well, although unfortunately Martin Bonnar was unnecessarily booked again for dissent.
(Special mention to the guy on the gate, Accies fans arriving late from the Cumbernauld nightmare got in free for the second half. Good to see that such things still happen in Scottish Football)
Accies: 1.Ian McFarlane 2. Ross MacLaren 3. Bill Davidson 4.Gordon Hunter 5.Paul Gaughan 6.Steven Thompson 7. Jose Quitongo 8. Martin Bonnar 9. James "The Snake" Coubrough 10. David Macfarlane 11. Eddie Cunnington.
Subs: Steven McCormick, Ryan Kelly, Gerry Crossley
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