Accies 0 Airdrie United 1: 13 March 2004

Scottish League Division 2

New Douglas Park, 13 March 2004

Report by Gilbert Mowat

Accies hopes of gaining promotion suffered a body blow on Saturday when they suffered their second defeat to Airdrie United within the space of a fortnight. Despite the fact that Airdrie weren't particularly good, they were still the better team and deserved to take the three points as their recent good run of results continued. Accies manager Allan Maitland stood by the team that had disposed of Dumbarton so comfortably in midweek, so Jim Sherry had to be content with a place on the bench. Although he did participate in the pre-match warm-up, Jose Quitongo didn't feature at all.

Airdrie got off to a great start and should have been at least a goal ahead in the opening few minutes. Accies had Dave McEwan to thank for keeping them out, with at least four saves in the first quarter of an hour. The Accies defence had been given a bit of a roasting but then Accies got into the game and Mark McGeown in the Airdrie goal had to dive full length to save a fine Brian McPhee shot. The only goal of the game arrived after 18 minutes. David Dunn got the ball wide on the left and ran across the park about 20 yards out. I think most of the Accies players were holding off, thinking he would shoot and thought they had the situation well covered. Instead, Dunn slipped a nice pass to the feet of the unmarked Owen Coyle, who beat his man before thumping the ball past the exposed McEwan.

Accies found the going tough in the first half but did manage to create a couple of chances before the interval, with both falling to Brian McPhee. The first time he wasn't able to keep the ball down and it flew well over the top but his second effort, just before the break, came agonisingly close as he cracked the ball off the crossbar with McGeown beaten. At the interval, I thought the visitors deserved to be ahead as they had controlled the bulk of the game. Several players were not playing well and I thought Allan Maitland might have made a few changes at the break, however it was the same X1 who came out for the second period.

There were to be no further goals, although Accies did improve after the interval. Brian McPhee and Brian Carrigan both had decent shots on the goal but neither of them were on target. Midway through the half, Brian McPhee limped off holding his groin and Chris Aitken went off as well, with Mark Corcoran and Jim Sherry coming on. This improved things for Accies, although wee Jim was almost yellow carded by John Rowbotham for a foul before he had even touched the ball! (He did get booked later on, after his next indiscretion.)

With Jim Sherry providing more "dig" in midfield and Corcoran having a few good runs on the left wing, Accies came into the game for long spells but they didn't really look like scoring. Unfortunately, with The Bee off the park the combination of Brian Carrigan and Darren Gribben just didn't work and neither had a good game. A quick glance to the other end of the park, where the visitors had Owen Coyle and Jerome Vareille up front showed the contrast in the spending power of the two clubs. Having said that, Vareille missed a good opportunity and didn't have a good game. The same can be said of highly rated winger Willie McLaren who, judging by his silver boots, clearly believes all the hype about him. Robert Walker did a great job on him and he should have been booked by Rowbotham for kicking the ball away twice in the closing stages. His manager (Sandy Stewart) was sent to the stand for making comments on the touchline. As he was listed as a substitute, Rowbotham should have got his cards out.

Accies had a real go towards the end of the game with Mark Corcoran doing really well. But the closest we came to a goal was when a brilliant Brian Carrigan free kick was headed narrowly past his own goal by Alan McManus with McGeown rooted to the spot. That miss was indicative of Accies luck and the visitors held on for a deserved win.

So the league race has swung again and Airdrie now look like hot favourites to go up with Morton, who seem to have recovered the winning habit at just the right time. Naturally that would be really disappointing for Accies, although I don't think that promotion in the new regime's first season was a priority. If they have stabilised the club and got the finances sorted out, then we have a real chance of a decent future. Promotion would indeed be great, but perhaps it's just a bit early for this side.

There are still 10 games to go however, and a lot of football to be played before anything is decided.

Hamilton: McEwan, Walker, Thomson, Lumsden, Hodge, Blackadder, Aitken, Arbuckle, Carrigan, Gribben, McPhee.

Subs: Sherry, Donnelly, Whiteford, Corcoran, Jellema.

Airdrie Utd: McGeown, William Wilson, McGowan, McManus, Lovering, Docherty, Dunn, McLaren, Roberts, Vareille, Coyle.

Subs: Stewart, Marvyn Wilson, McKeown, Glancy, Hollis.

Referee: J Rowbotham

Crowd 2559

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