Scottish League Division 2, New Douglas Park, Hamilton
Saturday, 1 December 2001
Accies 1
Martin 33
Attendance 1833
Alloa Athletic 0
Accies managed to put the brakes on their recent sprint towards Division 3 with this hard fought but ultimately well deserved victory.
Accies lined up with new signing Brian McPhee making his home debut. Ian Macfarlane returned in goal for the first time in nearly three months, with Graham Potter relegated to the bench. The badly missed trio of David McFarlane, Allan Russell and Sean Sweeney were all on the bench. Alloa had a couple of familiar figures in their team too, with former Accies stalwart Steven Thomson in the heart of their defence and recent trialist James Evans in goal.
The first half was played in almost constant rain, which led to quite a few players falling on their backsides on the far side of the pitch. Happily, this didn't cause Accies any major problems, although we had the usual rash of overhit passes to endure.
After about 19 minutes, David McNiven hit a left foot volley that swung just wide of the post with Evans struggling. Shortly afterwards, Michael Moore passed up the best chance of the half. Some good midfield play gave him the opportunity to beat the Alloa 'keeper to the ball just outside the penalty area. Sadly, he was unable to regain his balance before shooting and the ball flew harmlessly towards the "Sainsbury's Terrace". Brian McPhee had an opportunity too, when he showed real speed and determination in taking on one of the Alloa defenders. That gave him a good shooting chance but his effort went straight to Evans in the Alloa goal.
Alloa had a fair bit of the ball as well, but I can't remember the returning Ian Macfarlane having to make a single save in the entire game. He dealt with crosses reasonably well, although he didn't seem to command his penalty area particularly well. That will return, as will his ability to kick the ball up the park as opposed to towards the dugouts!
Accies took the lead after 33 minutes with an excellent goal. One of the Accies midfielders slipped the ball to overlapping full back Michael Martin on the left wing. He ran on, unchallenged until he was blocked by an Alloa defender 20 yards out. He cut back inside onto his right foot and sent a superb shot high over Evans into the postage stamp corner. It was a cracking goal and he celebrated in style, presumably because his Auntie was apparently at her first game. While not technically his first goal for the club (he was credited with a jammy deflected shot up at Methil last season in the 4-1 win made famous by Ian Macfarlane's goal), but it was the first time that the majority of Accies fans will have seen him hit the net.
The only other decent chance for Accies in the half fell to Ally Graham, but his back post header was easily mopped up by Evans.
The second half didn't produce any more goals and was notable for the fine performances put in by Brian McPhee and Michael Moore. McPhee was playing on the right side of the attack and was absolutely full of energy. On several occasions, he was clever enough to spot the dangerous runs being made by the Alloa midfielders and arrived to make important tackles at just the right time.
His workrate was superb and he will undoubtedly become as popular with the Accies fans as he was at Livingston. His passing was good and he had a real presence in the air. I think we have to congratulate Ally Dawson and his board for signing him. His performance was worthy of a goal but he didn't get any chances in the second half.
Michael Moore seemed to gain in confidence from having a new partner up front. He made a couple of shooting opportunities out of nothing with one of them producing an outstanding full length diving save from Evans. He also had the confidence to make a couple of dribbles into the Alloa penalty area, although his unpredictability evoked memories of Ted McMinn (for younger readers, he was a talented Rangers player of the early '80s.)
David McFarlane got a huge cheer when he came off the bench to replace David McNiven after an hour. He did reasonably well, despite never threatening the Alloa goal. His passing and general play was good and it was great to see him back in the hoops.
Alloa did manage to get the ball in the net near the end, but it was obvious that Macfarlane had been fouled in his 6 yard box.
Referee Colin Thomson, after being irritatingly pernickety for most of the game, finally had to pull out his yellow card after 79 minutes, when Michael Martin lost the head a wee bit. After scything down an Alloa player, he then kicked the ball away. As soon as play resumed, Steven Thomson hacked down Ally Graham and was booked too. Graham seemed a bit hurt by this but looked ready to continue after treatment from Jim Fallon. Ally Dawson thought otherwise and gave Allan Russell the chance to come on for the last 10 minutes or so. The referee then harshly took the name of Steven Renicks for a routine foul and also booked Gareth Evans for dissent as the diminutive Alloa substitute lost control.
So Accies held on for a vital victory, although they remain in eighth place in the table. It's just as well. Had they lost, they would have slipped to the very foot of the league. I hope that the win, plus the return of some of the injured senior players, gives the whole club a lift and we can finally put together some decent form.
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