Queen's Park 0 Accies 1: C.I.S. Cup Round 1: Wednesday, 12 September 2001

C.I.S. Cup Round 1, Hampden Park, Glasgow

Wednesday, 12 September 2001

Accies coasted to victory against a poor Queens Park team, who were only able to manage one shot on goal.

FIRST HALF

Accies manager Ally Dawson made only one change from the team that beat Berwick, with Allan Russell coming in for the injured Jim Sherry in midfield. Ally Maxwell was on the bench, alongside Mark Nelson, Wale Kwick Ajet, Paul McDonald and Michael Martin.

Accies got off to a cracking start with a couple of decent attempts on goal in the opening 2 minutes. The best of these was a screaming volley from Alisdair Graham which flew wide of the goal. Accies dominated the opening part of the match and took the lead with a fine headed goal by Michael Moore after 13 minutes. He made a good run to avoid the offside trap when Accies won a free kick on the right wing and his fine header beat the 'keeper easily.

Accies created quite a few chances to extend their lead before half time, although they were certainly hampered when David McFarlane limped off after a clash with the Queens Park goalkeeper after 21 minutes. Former Spider Wale Kwick Ajet took his place.

It wasn't ALL one way traffic however, with a home forward getting a free header inside the penalty area. He was unable to get it on target and the Accies defence cleared their lines. Just before half time, Stuart Callaghan kicked the ball out of play so that he could receive some treatment. After Jim Fallon left the pitch, the home team started an attack from the throw-in rather than return the ball to Accies. So much for the Corinthian spirit of this famous old club!

SECOND HALF

The home team used their final two substitutions at half time, with Accies also replacing Stuart Callaghan with Paul McDonald. The wee guy was to become the main creative player for Accies in the second half, although he did develop the disconcerting habit of hitting his crosses harmlessly over the goal line.

Those who were late back from the Hampden snackbars will have missed the real comedy highlight of the game. Allan Russell slipped a great through ball to Michael Moore in the inside left "channel". Moore drew the 'keeper before slipping the ball across goal towards substitute Wale Kwick Ajet. He reached the ball about two yards out, just outside the post and, rather than side foot it home for 2-0, he blasted it hard and high towards the seats in the stand. He managed to miss the goal frame entirely. No surprise, then, that he was replaced towards the end of the game by Michael Martin. I know that it's a bit humiliating for a substitute to be replaced, but you should have seen this howler.

Accies continued to dominate most of the play ( including a series of about 6 consecutive corners) and in fact they came close to extending their lead on several occasions with headed efforts from these corner kicks. Michael Moore was particularly unfortunate to see another of his headers cleared off the line.

Paul McDonald warmed the hands of the home 'keeper with a fierce shot near the end and then Graham Potter made his one save of the night when he tipped a shot over the bar as well.

However, there were to be no further goals and Accies advanced into the round 2 draw. Michael Moore was named as the sponsor's Man Of The Match and I thought he deserved it.

IN CONCLUSION

Accies were able to win this game without really getting out of second gear. It would have been nice if they had tried a bit harder to make the game safe, but then any cup victory is very welcome.

I was concerned to see two of our most influential players (McFarlane and Callaghan) sustain injuries and can only hope that they will be fit for the Stenhousemuir game at the weekend.

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