Hamilton Accies 2 East Fife 2
Bell's League Division 2
New Douglas Park, Hamilton, 27 September 2003
Report by Stephen Shilton
Our esteemed webmaster has decided to take a long weekend break in Madrid, and he asked me to try and write a report for Accies World.... Gilbert is attending Atletico Madrid v Barcelona as I sit at my PC trying to make sense of what happened at NDP this afternoon.... I think we can safely assume he’ll see a better game than if he’d stayed at home..... If Allan Maitland was indeed arrested for stealing a point at Cappielow, then he must have broken his conditions of bail today.
NDP was a cold, wet and gloomy place this afternoon, and the weather wasn’t much better. As I took my seat, along with Gilbert’s sons (why should they have to miss out just because Dad has opted for inferior fare?), I couldn’t help feeling that my prediction of a 3-0 win for Accies was a bit optimistic. Unfortunately I was right.
Accies had to cope without Stevie Convery who was injured at Perth, and lined up with Andy Whiteford, Stevie Thomson, Todd Lumsden and Sandy Hodge at the back, a midfield of Chris Aitken, Jim Sherry, John Bailey and Barry Forbes, with the two Brians, McPhee and Carrigan up front.
From the outset it seemed that the conditions would play a huge part in the outcome of this match. The pitch was extremely slippery and the ball over-ran constantly, which turned the game into a bit of a lottery. Such matches are often decided by mistakes and so it proved today. Neither keeper seemed totally comfortable with the wet, skidding ball.
It was a day to shoot on sight, but the nearest Accies came to scoring in the first 20 minutes was when Fifers’ defender Chris Miller headed just wide of his own goal to give Accies a corner. East Fife seemed to be making the better chances with a more direct style, while Accies attempts to play their usual passing game were thwarted by too many unforced errors. It could have been the conditions, but Accies looked tired after their mid-week cup thriller and despite their undoubted efforts there were only a few glimpses of what they’re capable of. It wasn’t a pretty sight. Jim Sherry and John Bailey epitomised the first half performance with a mixture of some good tackling and creative play combined with some frustrating mistakes. Dave McEwan had to look lively to slide tackle Kenny Deuchar just outside the box after 20 minutes, and fortunately the ball broke to an Accies defender.
East Fife had the better of the exchanges but didn’t look all that dangerous apart from a Deuchar header which went wide from a good position, and as the half proceeded, Accies did create a few chances. Bailey shot wide with a decent drive, and was caught offside after some great work from Barry Forbes and the Bee, and Barry Forbes miss-timed a header from a good position.
One of Gilbert’s sons said "Accies are playing rotten – I wouldn’t be surprised if we only got a point today." From the mouths of babes....
Dave McEwan had looked the safer of the two keepers, with his usual good handling and command of his area. In particular, in the 30th minute he saved well from Deuchar, who had dispossessed Tod Lumsden far too easily on the right.
The difference in goalkeeping performance was exemplified by Accies’ opening goal after 39 minutes. John Bailey found himself on the edge of the area on the right. He hit what looked like a pass into the box with his left foot which curled an skidded along the ground through a very sparse Fife defence, past a static Gary O’Connor into the left hand side of the goal. Despite the fact that the announcer credited the goal to Carrigan, everyone I spoke to gave the goal to Bailey.
The last 5 minutes of the first half saw Accies play much better, and John Bailey obviously gained confidence from his first Accies goal. Never the less, I thought we were a shade fortunate to be ahead at the break.
The first half was disappointing, but the second was much worse from an Accies point of view. Rather than build on the goal, they sat back from the off, and let East Fife put them under pressure. Euan Donaldson brought out a great save from McEwan when he was allowed acres of space in the box, Tod Lumsden caused problems via a poor clearance, and Stevie Thomson blocked well to give away a corner.
Accies’ midfield were posted missing for long spells, and it was no surprise when Allan Maitland replaced Carrigan (who looked unfit or just plain shattered) with Mark Corcoran after 54 minutes.
McPhee brought out a save from O’Connor from a header, but it was all too patchy from Accies and they were punished in 59 minutes when they allowed Ian McDonald space to unleash a vicious drive from 30 yards. The ball rifled past McEwan’s left into the net, to the inevitable celebrations from the Fife players and fans. Much worse was to follow a minute later. Brian Fairbairn had just come on for East Fife, and Accies’ defence looked as if they hadn’t noticed as he found himself on his own ten yards out on the right. He had a geological time span to pick his spot with a low cross which was gleefully slammed home by Donaldson a few yards out. Accies’ defending was suicidal and they would have lost a third were it not for a great point blank save by McEwan after a low corner was unbelievably missed by everyone except a Fife forward.
Accies looked dead and buried at this stage, and Allan Maitland replaced Forbes with Alan Waddell. Things didn’t improve however, and East Fife had other chances to put the game beyond them. Were it not for good goalkeeping from Dave McEwan they would have.
Finally, Maitland replaced Chris Aitken with Darren Gribben after 73 minutes. Accies were now without Convery, Aitken and Carrigan and I felt sorry for Brian McPhee who seemed to have to carry the whole team in the latter stages. Accies were playing with the Bee, Gribben and Waddell up front and it all seemed so desperate as they searched for an unlikely looking equaliser, and missed a growing number of half-chances in the final 10 minutes.
However, their admittedly erratic efforts were rewarded by a goal out of nothing in the 89th minute. Gary O’Connor let the ball slip from his grasp as he dived at the feet of Waddell and Corcoran, about 10 yards out. Alan Waddell gleefully rolled the ball into the empty net for an unlikely and somewhat fortunate equaliser. Not that anyone was complaining! (Apart from the Fife contingent of course, who must have been somewhat disappointed.)
Accies then decided to play and forced 3 corners before the final whistle as they searched for a winner. While I’d have been overjoyed at that, it would have masked the fact that Accies never really got going in this game. Frustration and disappointment were the order of the day, particularly after such a good performance at McDiarmid Park on Tuesday. However, it may well have been the effects of those 120 minutes which resulted in such a disjointed display. I certainly hope so.
Accies can play much better than this, but the fact remains that they were fortunate to come away with a point today, and the chance to move towards the top of the league was lost. I thought that Dave McEwan coped extremely well with the conditions, in contrast to Gary O’Connor in the Fife goal (thank goodness). John Bailey will hopefully build on this performance, having broken his duck. He certainly has the potential to do well.
On this showing, mid-table mediocrity is all we can expect, but surely we can and will do better as the season progresses. Hopefully a free week will allow some tired and injured players to recover in time for next week’s home game against Alloa. Nothing less than a win will do if Accies are to be serious challengers this term.
Get some rest lads – and please play better next week!
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