Accies 3 Albion Rovers 2: Tuesday, 2 January 2001

Last season, Accies developed a habit of throwing away two goal leads. Well, in this game they did all they could to top those performances by losing a three goal lead. In the end, they were hanging on for grim life against an Albion Rovers team who had shown no signs of life for the preceding 84 minutes.

This was one of those madcap mental games which only the Scottish lower leagues can produce. Accies were absolutely coasting (largely due to a couple of disastrous defensive errors by Rovers) but then appeared to bottle it as Rovers threw caution to the winds and clawed back a couple of goals.

Accies were on the usual lines, which meant that there was no return for captain Chris Hillcoat. Rovers had former Accies players Tommy Tait and Steve McCormick in their team.

After some sparkling one touch football for the first ten minutes or so, Accies then reverted to their normal form, which meant that there was a lot of huffing and puffing with few chances being created. Shortly after a reasonable penalty claim for a trip on David McFarlane had been turned down, Accies took the lead after 18 minutes.

A long through ball from Mark Nelson left Rovers defender Todd Lumsden with the simple task of nodding it back to 'keeper Chris Fahey. Unfortunately for Lumsden, Fahey had advanced a bit further out than he thought and made a hash of collecting the ball. Alex Eadie had followed up and trundled the loose ball into the unguarded net for the opener. The Accies fans weren't sure whether they should applaud or wet themselves with laughter.

The only other real highlight of the first half was a great shot from Jim Sherry which was well saved by Fahey in the Rovers goal. Rovers had produced only one chance, when a header went narrowly over the bar.

Accies continued to be the dominant team in the second half and extended their lead after 67 minutes. This time it was Allan Russell who turned well in the box to crack a good shot past Fahey.

Even better was to come in the 72nd minute, with a classic defensive error by Tommy Tait. Ian Macfarlane thumped a long clearance upfield, which Tait decided to head back to his 'keeper. Fortunately, David McFarlane had anticipated this and was in a good position to lob the ball over the advancing Fahey. His excellent finish made it 3-0. And so the game was safe, or so we thought.

Accies had another couple of chances after this, with Chris Fahey doing well to tip over a lob from Mark Nelson and Stuart Callaghan making space for himself in the box before shooting narrowly wide.

The game was petering out and the three points were in the bag. Fans were starting to discuss plans for the trip to Buckie at the weekend and there wasn't an awful lot happening on the park. Suddenly, Rovers grabbed a goal back. A corner was cleared to the edge of the box as far as substitute Kevin McBride and his thundering shot flew into the top corner with Macfarlane motionless. A fantastic goal - which received generous applause from the Accies fans. The kind of condescending applause given to excellent consolation goals.

Before that point, Macfarlane had made just one save in the whole game. Just after the goal, he had to be on his toes to tip another screamer just over the bar. When the resultant cross arrived in the middle, the Rovers attackers barged the Accies goalie, allowing substitute Martin Harty to head over the line. This goal led to a total collapse of the confidence within the Accies team and they decided to pack the defence.

These suicidal tactics nearly cost Accies a couple of points as Rovers had another effort disallowed right at the end. Steve McCormick had been awarded another corner (even though it appeared that HE had put the ball out of play). When the cross came in this time, the referee blew his whistle for handball just before McCormick lashed the ball home. Some fans and players thought the goal had been awarded, but the ref clearly blew his whistle before the ball hit the net.

Other than the three points, I don't think there's much that Accies can take from this game. Two of the goals came from some comedy defending from Rovers and they did lose control after Rovers first goal. But it was another victory which just about keeps them in touch with the league leaders.

A big improvement will be required if they're to gain promotion at the end of the season.

Accies : Macfarlane, Nelson, Callaghan, Hogg, Gaughan, Clark, Sherry, Russell, Eadie (Moore), McFarlane (Downs) and Bonnar.

- Read the fans' memories, or add your own, via this link.

- Please contact us if you have any information that will improve this page or if you spot any mistakes.

Images

Videos

Links and References