Accies 0 Raith Rovers 0: Saturday, 1 February 2003

Scottish League Division 2, New Douglas Park, Hamilton

Saturday, 1 February 2003

Report by Gilbert Mowat

This game was simply a disaster waiting to happen. Top of the table Rovers had crushed Accies 4-0 on their previous visit. The Accies defence was revamped, with Dylan Kerr returning from exile and Craig Smillie from the reserves. There was also the fact that none of the Accies squad had been able to get a transfer during the ludicrous "window" period. Not to mention the fact that Accies were at home.

So it looked a safe bet for the fixed odds. But once again we found out just why you'll never find a poor bookie! Accies played really well in this game and, if they had been able to keep their composure in front of goal, they would have won the game. I think in hindsight they will look back on this as a missed opportunity to beat the champs on an off day.

Accies were in good form in the first half and missed several clear cut chances to take the lead. First to have a go was Brian McPhee, who cut in from the left wing and thumped in a great shot that was fisted clear by the Raith goalkeeper. Next up for the chance to score was Martin Bonnar, who missed right in front of goal following excellent play on the wing by Allan Russell. With Allan Russell missing a great opportunity in front of goal and Gareth Armstrong passing up a good chance with a tame header, this was the best half of attacking football we had seen from Accies for a while, with the slight downside being that they didn't manage to find the net. The exception to this play was an appalling effort on goal by wee Johnny Walker. As an Accies attack broke down, the ball rolled invitingly out of the penalty area. This was it! This was going to be the time for Johnny to answer his critics by thumping a screamer into the top corner. I need hardly tell you that this did not happen - the wee guy scuffed his shot and only the intervention of a bemused Raith defender prevented it from hitting the corner flag.

The visitors didn't live up to their billing as the best team in the division. They were really confined to two opportunities, an audacious chip from Ryan Blackadder that hit the top of Graham Potter's bar and a snap shot that went well wide after a bit of a mix-up between Sean Sweeney and Craig Smillie. I think this can be put down to generally good defensive play by Accies as they fought for every tackle - and some assured goalkeeping by the vastly improved Graham Potter..

Accies created another chance to break the deadlock soon after the interval when Martin Bonnar beat the offside trap to run in on goal. Sadly, his pathetic effort rolled harmlessly past the far post. After two goals on consecutive Saturdays it was disappointing to see the wee guy return to his old self.

At this stage Chris Hillcoat decided to freshen things up, with Darren Gribben and Jim Sherry replacing Allan Russell and Johnny Walker respectively. They both looked good too, with Sherry in particular being an immediate improvement on the man he replaced. Gribben showed a lot of energy as well and was unfortunate not to score near the end of the game with a header that went over the bar. He did take a thump on the thigh from the Rovers centre half for his troubles.

The star man for the remainder of the game was Graham Potter. He looked much more confident than in recent weeks and made several excellent saves to keep the Rovers attack at bay. At one stage, the otherwise reliable Dylan Kerr was caught out of position and Potter had to race from his goal to defy Andy Smith. This courageous block gave Potter an injury, but with Hilly already having used his three subs he had to play to the end.

Apart from Potter, I thought the standout players were Sean Sweeney, wee Ally Graham, Dylan Kerr and Stuart Callaghan. Brian McPhee didn't get much change out of the Rovers defence but then I don't think he relished the fact that most of the passes coming his way were dropping out of the sky. If we had better midfielders than Walker and Bonnar we might be able to keep the ball on the deck and play some decent football.

All in all, this was a definite improvement by Accies that will give them hope for the difficult weeks ahead. If they can play like this against the lesser sides in the league, they must start to win a few games soon. They'd better!

Hamilton: Potter, Armstrong, Kerr, Smillie, Sweeney, Alisdair Graham, Bonnar , Walker (Sherry 73), Russell (Gribben 68), McPhee (Alistair S Graham 85), Callaghan.

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