New Douglas Park, Hamilton, Saturday 10 November 2001
Accies 2
Nicholls 84, 87
Attendance 1563
Stenhousemuir 3
Irvine 20, 48, 59 (pen)
It's strange. Just when you think that your team has reached their nadir they do their best to surprise you yet again.
Don't let the final score fool you. Accies did grab two goals towards the end of the game but it was only in the final part of the game that most of them displayed any urgency at all. Could it be that as well as having lost the respect of the fans, Ally Dawson has also "lost the dressing room"?
The visitors took 20 minutes to open the scoring but before that it was pretty tedious stuff. Accies had a fair amount of the ball but, with the exception of Mark Nicholls and Ally Graham, they didn't seem to know what to do with it. Nicholls used the ball intelligently, playing the short simple pass and doing his best to pick holes in the sturdy Stenny defence while Accies best opportunities were created by Graham on the right wing.
The opening goal followed some criminal defending by Accies. The ball was played out to Willie Irvine on the left side of the penalty area. He cut inside onto his right foot and his shot was good enough to beat Graham Potter in the Accies goal. I thought that Potter should have been able to stop the shot but he couldn't.
A few minutes later, a poor header from Ian McCreadie gave a Stenny attacked the chance with a one-on-one with Potter. Graham made amends for his part in the first goal with a fine low save.
Accies still had plenty of the ball in their opponents half but were unable to force a save out of Marc Graham in the away goal. Ally Graham had the best effort of the half with a great cross which skimmed off the face of the bar.
The second half was only a couple of minutes old when Willie Irvine extended his team's lead. Chris Jackson capitalised on some dithering by Paul Gaughan to make a good run into the penalty area. His progress was blocked but the ball broke free to Irvine who tapped it home to the delight of the visiting bench.
Naturally, this was also the cue for the home fans to chant for the head of Ally Dawson and it was hard not to agree with them. The ball could have been blootered anywhere but instead it was presented to Irvine as if on a silver platter by our hapless defence.
Worse was to follow on the hour. Some neat play on the right by a Stenny attacker resulted in a good cross to the back post. Steven Renicks, who has proved to be a failure as a sweeper, pushed Euan Donaldson and the referee had no option but to award the penalty. Willie Irvine made an excellent, John Aldridge style, execution of the award with Potter rendered motionless by his skill.
The loudest noise after that goal wasn't the celebrations of the tiny Stenhousemuir support. It was the clatter of seats being emptied as large numbers of the Accies support decided to vote with their feet. Stuart Callaghan lost the place and could easily have been red-carded if the officials had seen him lift his hand to one of the Stenny men.
Accies looked shapeless in midfield, lethargic up front and totally useless at the back. However, one or two of them had enough pride in their reputations to keep trying and it was two of these guys who dragged Accies back into the game with 6 minutes remaining. Ally Graham sent over a superb cross from the right which was headed home by Mark Nicholls. Three minutes later, Nicholls gave the scoreline a false impression with a free kick from the left wing which everyone left alone, including the Stenhousemuir goalie. Accies came close towards the death through substitute Kris O'Neil but his shot was saved.
As usual, Ally Dawson's substitutions were bizarre. While I agree that Stuart Callaghan had to be replaced following his weekly act of impetuosity, I think that taking off Michael Moore and allowing David McNiven to remain on the park was almost criminal. In addition, he took off Alex Lurinsky despite the wee guy being one of the few who looked interested in the game.
So another dismal home defeat for the hoops and they inch ever closer to the foot of the league.
Hamilton: Potter, Renicks, Lurinsky, Nelson, Gaughan, McCreadie, Graham, Nicholls, Moore, McNiven, Callaghan.
Subs: O'Neil, Martin, Walker, Dobbins, Thomson
Stenhousemuir: Graham, Storrar, Donaldson, Stone, Sandison, Connaghan, Jackson, Milne, English, Irvine, McKeown
Subs: Miller, Vella, Donald, Shearer, McGurk
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