Accies 2 Airdrie United 1: 23 August 2003

Hamilton Accies 2 Airdrie United 1

Scottish League Division 2

New Douglas Park, Hamilton, 23 August 2003

Accies finally got their Division 2 campaign under way with a hard-earned win against their new rivals from North Lanarkshire, Airdrie United. Accies lined up with new signing Sandy Hodge in the left back spot and Jim Sherry in the midfield. This meant that there was no room for either John Fitter or Ryan Maxwell.

The game got off to a bad start for Accies, with Jim Sherry hitting the turf in the second minute following the kind of "clash of heads" that the papers always describe as sickening. He had to go off to get stitches and it was a full 10 minutes before he re-appeared. By that time, the visitors had almost taken the lead with Jerome Vareille squandering a chance when he was one-on-one with David McEwan. Not for the first time, our borrowed 'keeper from Livingston proved his worth with a fine save at Vareille's feet.

Airdrie had the upper hand for long periods of the first half and were very unlucky not to take the lead when Alan Gow took advantage of lamentable defending to fire the ball against McEwan's post with the 'keeper beaten. So it was perhaps a wee bit against the run of play when Accies took the lead after 33 minutes. Brian Carrigan was stupidly tripped in the box when he wasn't threatening the goal and he gleefully thumped the ball past McGeown from the spot. He was obviously delighted to score his first goal for the club - judging by his somersault.

Accies had their best spell until half time and were unlucky not to double their lead before the interval. The best chance came just before the break after some brilliant wing play by Brian McPhee. The Bee got to the byeline and put over a great cross but Mark Corcoran was unable to score from close range. The ball bobbled about a bit in the 6 yard box before being gathered to safety on the goal-line by McGeown.

The second half was only 5 minutes old when Stevie Convery scored what was to prove to be the winning goal. It started with Airdrie United on the attack and the ball was won in midfield by Chris Aitken. He found Brian McPhee in a good position on the right with a brilliant diagonal pass. The Bee then sent over a dream of a cross towards Stevie Convery on the penalty spot. His downward header was powerful and accurate, but Mark McGeown somehow kept it from going into the net (although it did look to be a wee bit behind him). It was either a brilliant save or it wasn't - and fortunately the linesman on the far side, who must have been the only person in the stadium who could judge this, sprinted up the park to indicate that the ball had crossed the line. I can't tell you if the ball was over the line - and neither will anyone in the Spice of Life Stand either!

The visitors then applied a bit more pressure and it seemed that a goal was inevitable as the Accies defence got more ragged. It duly arrived halfway through the second period when Jerome Vareille cracked the ball home from close range after blocking a team-mates inaccurate header.

We were then in for a grandstand finish with Airdrie doing most of the attacking and Accies doing their best to keep them out while attacking on the break. David McEwan made a couple of vital saves, while at the other end Brian Carrigan thumped a great shot off the crossbar.

There was the usual rash of substitutions as the game came towards a close, with Andy Arbuckle and Darren Gribben making little impression during their few minutes on the pitch. The referee added on a few minutes more than I would have liked but the final whistle was like sweet music to our ears!

Hamilton: McEwan, Whiteford, Steven Thomson, Lumsden, Hodge, Carrigan, Aitken, Sherry, Corcoran, McPhee, Convery. Subs: Robert Walker, Arbuckle, Paterson, Gribben, Jellema.

Airdrie Utd: McGeown, McManus, Stewart, Scott Wilson, Black, Vareille, Marvyn Wilson, McGowan, Gow, Roberts, Ronald. Subs: Dunn, Glancy, Miller, Grant, Cherrie.

Referee: E Mack

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