Scottish League Divison 2, New Douglas Park, Hamilton
Saturday, 4 August 2001
Accies 1
Gaughan 55
Attendance: 3192
Queen Of The South 1
Weatherson 21
FIRST HALF
Before the game, we had to endure possibly the crappest ever flag unveiling ceremony in the history of Scottish Football. With the flagpole above the centre of the West Stand (where most Accies fans would have been unable to see it), the club took the sensible decision to use a temporary flagpole for the occasion.
Unfortunately, they decided to erect it on the far side of the pitch, well away from the fans to whom it meant so much. To be honest, I had just got into the ground and was unaware (primarily because of the non-functioning public address system) that anything was happening until there was a sudden outbreak of applause. Quite why they didn't have the ceremony right in front of the main stand can only be guessed at.
Anyway, to the action. Accies lined up for their first genuine home league match in over 7 years with the rather surprising form of legendary Scottish goalkeeper Andy Goram between the sticks. (Some wag suggested that it was brave of Andy to play, given that the Queen Mum was poorly, but I won't repeat that comment here!) Elsewhere, the team was on fairly predictable lines, with Allan Russell starting the game in place of Johnny Walker.
The first half was not the best 45 minutes of football I've ever seen. It was clear from the very start that Queens were better than anything we'd faced in the third division (no surprise there) and were pretty well organised, particularly at the back. But they failed to threaten the Accies goal much. In fact, it occurred to me after about 20 minutes that they hadn't even put in a dangerous cross yet when Warren Hawke sent over a beauty from the right wing which Peter Weatherson bulleted into the bottom corner, well away from the static Andy Goram. (What a surprise, eh 'Well fans?)
Weatherson therefore had the honour of scoring the first real goal at the new stadium and celebrated in some style. Having discussed this with others since the game ended, I am sure that this represented Queens only effort on target for the entire game. According to their fans, this is explained by the absence of all of their regular midfield players.
Accies certainly had their chances before half time. David McFarlane thumped the ball high over the bar from close range and also scorned a couple of other good chances. One of these rebounded to his partner Michael Moore, but he was unable to get the ball past Jamie Campbell in the visitors goal.
HALF TIME
The half time entertainment seemed to consist of watching "Hammy The Hamster" mess about on the pitch and generally fall over. The public address system briefly burst into life, although the normal things like half-time scores and fans information were not provided. (It was a wee bit annoying that scorer's names and subs details were not announced to the crowd during the game.)
SECOND HALF
It didn't take Accies very long to get back into the match. A high ball into the penalty area was fumbled by Jamie Campbell under pressure from Michael Moore. It rolled into the path of Paul Gaughan and big Gucci fairly blasted it into the roof of the net.
Accies continued to be the dominant team on the park but just couldn't create any real chances to grab the lead. Stuart Callaghan fired a free kick well over the bar and Eddie Cunnington had a good low shot which scraped the post.
The best that Queens could do was the occasional breakaway. There was one early in the second half which the Queens fans thought was wrongly stopped because of offside. Well, I was right in line and can confirm that they're right to feel aggrieved as their striker was a couple of feet ONside. But that was about it, apart from a comedy free kick where the ball was rolled too far left for the right footed kicker and he sclaffed it harmlessly wide.
IN CONCLUSION
This was a fairly disappointing return to division 2 and Hamilton for Accies, who really ought to have won this game with something to spare. They didn't seem to have the guile to create chances for the strikers and when they did, the strikers couldn't deliver. Perhaps the introduction of Paul McDonald will go some way to rectifying this?
Andy Goram had probably the easiest debut of his long career. Apart from the goal (where he didn't have a chance), all he did was field crosses and passbacks. His distribution was first class, however, and he clearly still reads the game well.
It was great to see such a decent crowd in the new stadium. I know that there were some "stadium collectors" and a healthy turnout from Dumfries, but the signs are there that Accies will have a good support this season, although that can only be maintained if/when they start winning.
It was also heartening to see some old friends there who hadn't been to see Accies for a while and had travelled long distances to be at the game.
Just a pity it wasn't a better one.
Accies lineup:
Kris O'Neil replaced Michael Moore (67)
Alisdair Graham replaced Allan Russell (76)
Ross Maclaren was booked for a trip
Martin Bonnar was booked for not allowing a free kick to be taken
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