Report by Donald Anderson
We chased Watson up Firhill Road again - not as many people this time, but still immense fun - a good way to unwind after watching another disastrous performance.
Actually, we were at least as good as Thistle in the first half. 2-0 was a bit lucky but the lead was not undeserved. It could have been three, but one of our strikers managed to hit a weak shot wide of the post when clean through on the keeper - I hardly need to say which one!
Accies deserved the applause they got at half time, but I suspect what went wrong in the second half was Ian McAulay's batteries running out. He seemed to pick up every loose ball in the first half and made consistently good use of it, notably playing Darren Henderson into the game. In the second half, he vanished, and the team didn't so much lose shape as turn into a blancmange.
The sight of all ten Accies players pressed back into a row outside their own 18 yard line in the second half had steam pouring from some supporters' ears. The first goal came from a shot by Cunnington which Darren Henderson sort of back heel flicked into the net from six yards out. The second was an unexpected screamer from the edge of the box by Martin Bonnar. As they say on the BBC vidi-printer in cases of disbelief..... B.O.N.N.A.R. (G.O.A.L.).Then came McCormick's duff miss.
In the second half, it was almost all Thistle, though McCormick did manage to guide a header over the bar from inside the box. Accies defended far too deep, and there were too many clearances to nowhere when there was probably time and space for a bit more thought, particularly from Michael Martin, (later substituted for McLaren), and a few hasty punts up the park from Ian McFarlane who maybe should have held the ball and slowed the game down. Faldo did make one or two important stops though.
The Jags hit the post twice and we were lucky not to lose. On the plus side, Chris Hillcoat came on as a sub at 2-2 to try and shore things up for the last two minutes and left the field with his legs intact.
A few of us also spotted Donnelly on the way into the game, so he got jeered twice - a good day off the park, and half a good day on it if we want to be optimistic - if we could just keep playing for 90 minutes we'd be respectable again. At least we didn't lose.
Nicky Henderson, Ferguson, Renicks and Davidson were all missing.
Accies: McFarlane, Martin (McLaren), Cunnington, Hunter, Gaughan, Thompson (Hillcoat), Kelly, Bonnar, McCormick (Moore), D. Henderson, McAulay
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