Scottish League Division 2, New Douglas Park, Hamilton
Saturday, 12 January 2002
Accies leapt two places in the league table with this win over Forfar at New Douglas Park. As usual, however, the scoreline does not tell the full story of the game.
Accies lined up with Allan Russell making his first top team appearance since September in place of the suspended Stuart Callaghan. Russell took his position on the left, with Paul McDonald on the bench.
Accies took the lead after only 4 minutes. Strangely, it had its roots in some hesitant defensive play by Accies. A speculative through ball by a Forfar man left Ian Macfarlane in no mans land outside the penalty area and Mark Nelson had to head the ball wide of the goal to clear the danger. He then took it wide on the right before hitting a superb ball up the wing to Steven Renicks. Renicks had time to run forward before hitting a great cross into the penalty area. Michael Moore rose at the penalty spot to head the ball firmly wide of Michael Brown in the Forfar goal. A great start.
It sounds daft, but the early goal from Accies seemed to kill their ambition for most of the first half. They did squander the odd chance, with David McNiven wasting a one-on-one with Brown, but it has to be said that Forfar were far the better team in the first half.
They took charge of the midfield and if it hadn't been for the heroic efforts of Sean Sweeney and Mark Nelson in the heart of the defence they would have surely scored a couple of goals in the first period. The visitors certainly didn't have their shooting boots on either. Headers and shots flew wide of the mark with Ian Macfarlane exposed but not required to make a save. They also hit the bar with a long range effort after Michael Martin lost possession. AND they had a good goal ruled out for offside - I was in no position to judge if the decision was correct.
With the Accies midfield having been totally overrun in the first half, manager Ally Dawson took some action at half time. He withdrew the lacklustre (that's a euphemism for rubbish) Allan Russell and introduced old favourite Paul McDonald wide on the left wing. The wee guy made an immediate improvement and the team was far better balanced after he came on.
Forfar still looked dangerous however, with Mark "The Cow" Yardley scraping the crossbar with a powerful shot. It didn't take Accies too long to double their lead. Brian McPhee knocked the ball down for Ally Graham to stride forward and crack the ball low past Brown from the edge of the area for his first Accies goal. It was no more than he deserved for his fine performance in this game and several before it too.
The goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of the visitors and Accies pretty much controlled the rest of the game. There weren't any more goals, although David McNiven missed a sitter near the end. Martin Bonnar picked up a well deserved booking for hauling back the shirt of a Forfar man in the centre circle. The visitors used up all of their substitutes but weren't able to upset the Accies defence.
Brian McPhee put in another useful performance, without scaling the heights of his commanding display against Raith Rovers on Tuesday.
So Accies, while probably not really deserving it, earned the two points and climb above Morton and Stenhousemuir in the league. Stranraer visit New Douglas Park next week for what will surely be as tough a test as Forfar. If Accies can continue to grow in confidence, they will have a decent chance of collecting another three points.
- 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