Stenhousemuir 2 Accies 0: Saturday, 15 September 2001

Scottish League Division 2, Ochilview, Larbert

Saturday, 15 September 2001

To paraphrase from a famous Biblical quotation: "You can have all the possession in the world, make pretty passes across midfield, fire in brilliant crosses and tackle like Billy Bremner. But if it does not provide you with goals, then it is worth nothing at all."

Accies learned this lesson the hard way on Saturday. For long spells of the game they really dominated Stenhousemuir, but were desperately missing someone up front who could actually put the ball in the pokey.

FIRST HALF

Accies lined up with the forgotten man of the squad (Gareth Armstrong) instead of the injured David McFarlane and the appalling Wale Kwick Ajet, who didn't even make the bench. Accies legend Paul McDonald replaced the injured Stuart Callaghan on the left wing.

The opening half of the game was a fairly fast, furious and entertaining affair. Accies probably had the best of the play, although Graham Potter had to make a good diving save from ex-Accie Ian Ferguson while another of the Stenny players hit the top of the bar with a long range lob. For their part, Accies came close on several occasions, none more so than just before half time.

Ally Graham's cross from the right was fired back across goal by Gareth Armstrong. Another player slid in, just missed it and the ball broke to Steven Renicks on the corner of the 6 yard box. His shot was in all the way ( and the fans were rising to salute him), when the home 'keeper Ryan McGurk got a hand to the ball on the line and scooped it out. The Accies players appealed in vain to the linesman, but he shook his head and the chance was lost. I have to say that from my vantage point, 40 yards from goal, I have absolutely no idea if it was in or not.

SECOND HALF

Accies came close to breaking the deadlock just after half time. Paul McDonald, who was impressive throughout, slid a great pass to the feet of Gareth Armstrong just outside the penalty area. Where a more confident player would have strode on and tucked the ball into the net, he doubled back to pass to a team mate and the scoring opportunity was lost.

Accies were to pay for that mistake just a few minutes later when the home team took the lead, against the run of play. Graeme Davidson hit a long cross from the right and Gordon Abbott headed powerfully against the crossbar. The ball fell kindly for Martin Mooney and the Sunbed King cracked the ball past Graham Potter.

Accies continued to have the bulk of the play after this, but despite this they were unable to make the breakthrough against a well organised Stenny defence. Michael Moore was immense in the air but couldn't really break free from the tight marking. Allan Russell ( a late substitute) came close with a low shot that ran right across the face of the goal and Ally Graham hit the post with a shot from a tight angle.

Accies had a couple of penalty claims denied within a few seconds late in the game. I didn't think either of them were up to much. Perhaps they should have been added together???

Anyway, with Accies spending so much time up the park it was no great surprise that they were caught out on the break right at the end. A long ball from the back gave Martin Mooney a clear run at Graham Potter. He squared the ball just at the right moment for Isaac English and he did the rest.

CONCLUSION

Defensively, I didn't think Accies did an awful lot that was wrong in this game. Graham Potter didn't make any mistakes. Paul Gaughan was given a tough time by experienced striker Ian Ferguson but did reasonably well, as did his partner Sean Sweeney. Steven Renicks and Ally Graham didn't combine very well on the right although things were better on the left where Eddie Cunnington and Paul McDonald did their best, with wee Paul putting in some great crosses.

In midfield, Jim Sherry had his usual battling game and Martin Bonnar was, well, Martin Bonnar. (Which means that he ran about a lot tackling people but didn't actually create anything.) Up front, Michael Moore had an immense game but didn't get any chances. Gareth Armstrong was immeasurably better than Wale Kwick Ajet but lacks confidence.

Near the end of the game, Ally Dawson inexplicably replaced our most creative player, Paul McDonald with Michael Martin. Martin did well and should come into contention for the Stranraer game on Tuesday. Allan Russell came on for Martin Bonnar and showed that he may not in fact be the decent player we all thought he was.

Clearly, there are things going wrong at Accies. The new players signed by manager Ally Dawson in the summer have, almost without exception, disappointed.

Although he didn't play in this game, I cannot understand what Ally Dawson was thinking of when he snapped up Wale Kwick Ajet, who had previously been released by Queens Park and Chester City. Gareth Armstrong actually did OK in this game, but does not look like a goalscorer. Ally Graham had another disappointing match on the right and desperately needs a goal to give him some confidence.

Kris O'Neil and Johnny Walker might be good players, but they can't even get into the team.

Things will have to improve, particularly in midfield and up front if we're to make any progress in this league.

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