Hamilton Accies 2 Forfar Athletic 1
New Douglas Park, Hamilton, 20 January 2004
Bell's Scottish League Division 2
Report by Gilbert Mowat
Accies climbed back up to 3rd place in the league with this narrow win over Forfar at New Douglas Park. Allan Maitland persevered with the team that defeated Cowdenbeath 10 days before, which meant that loan signing John Gemmell from Partick Thistle had to be content with a place on the bench. Accies got off to a cracking start and could have been a goal ahead inside the first minute, when a Forfar defender dithered on the ball and was dispossessed by top scorer Brian McPhee. The Bee closed in on Michael Brown in the Forfar goal but his shot flew just over the bar from the edge of the area. I think wee Jose was in a good position for the pass, but I am sure the thought of passing the ball would never have entered The Bee's head! Andy Arbuckle had a cracking shot a couple of minutes later, but Brown did well to beat the ball out with his fists.
Just as we were enjoying this brilliant start, the Sainsbury's end of the stadium was plunged into gloom (reminiscent of Douglas Park), when the lights failed. The players mooched about a bit and were eventually taken off the park by the referee as the announcer called for the club electrician. Er, I thought he might have realised he was needed right away! Anyway, it was a good 15 minutes before the game got going again, with Accies re-entering the pitch to U2 as usual. Wee Jose was the next to threaten the Forfar goal when a bit of his trademark japery took him to a clear position just 15 yards out. Sadly, his trademark shooting let him down again and the ball trundled tamely past the post.
Brian McPhee was foiled by a superb instinctive save by the impressive Brown when he got onto the end of a pinpoint cross from Brian Carrigan on the right wing. He volleyed it towards the goal, but somehow Brown got a hand to the ball to divert it over the bar. It was a terrific save.
Just as we all began to suspect that Accies first half efforts would be for nothing, they took the lead with a controversial goal by Brian Carrigan after 39 minutes. The ball was squared to Carrots about 20 yards out and his low shot beat Brown low at his bottom right corner. The ball hit the net before cannoning back off the China Cottage advert and coming to rest on the back of the net. From my vantage point (at the tea bar!), it was impossible to determine if it had gone in or not, but Carrots had wheeled away immediately and done his cartwheel. Which would have been highly embarrassing had the ball not gone in! The referee gave the goal but was persuaded to consult with his linesman on the far side. After a brief blether, he confirmed the award. There were protests from Ray Stewart and his colleagues on the Forfar bench, but quite tellingly there wasn't much of a complaint from the Forfar players. Given that the referee was in a much better position that anyone in the crowd, I think we'll have to take his word for it!
Stewart took a lot of calming down by the referee, Accies secretary Scott Struthers and even the senior policeman. So it was hilarious to see him have a tantrum when Brian McPhee doubled the lead just 4 minutes later. This time it was good work on the left by Sandy Hodge that ended with a low cross that The Bee thudded home from close range - it was very similar to the goal he got against Cowdenbeath. With Ray Stewart's blood pressure off the scale the fans were lapping it up. If only it had been John McVeigh!!
Accies certainly deserved the half time lead but Forfar were dangerous on the break. They played some good stuff at times but Dave McEwan wasn't worried very often. Their best effort came when Paul Tosh hit the ball over the bar from 20 yards.
Compared to the first half, the second period was a much more muted affair. Accies played a fair amount of good stuff and had clear chances to score when first Andy Arbuckle and then Jose Quitongo had one-on-ones with Brown. Poor Andy did well but then overran the ball, while Jose couldn't get past Brown. Forfar came back into the game quite strongly and scored after 71 minutes. Paul Tosh did really well to spread the ball wide to the right wing and the cross was headed home by Mark Ferry.
Accies battled back and Chris Aitken hit a brilliant volley that beat Brown but cannoned off the bar to safety. Towards the end Brian Carrigan and Jose Quitongo were replaced by Ciaran Donnelly and John Gemmell respectively. Gemmell had a chance to have a shot at goal but mishit it. Brian McPhee was booked for dissent near the end.
Towards the end of the game, the Forfar players had their best spell, laying siege to Dave McEwan's goal. But after playing 3 or 4 extra minutes, the referee blew the whistle to our great relief.
It was fairly hairy at times, but this was a game that Accies could and should have won by several goals. But a nice wee 2-1 win over Forfar is not to be sneezed at. 3rd in the league is not such a bad place to be at this stage in the season, given the changes that took place in the summer.
The Morton game on Saturday will undoubtedly be difficult, but if Accies can continue to battle hard in every game then promotion might just be a realistic ambition for the new regime's first season. Even if that doesn't happen, we've already had more entertainment this term than in the whole of last season.
Accies: McEwan; Whiteford, Hodge, Thomson, Lumsden, Arbuckle, Carrigan (Gemmell), Aitken, Quitongo (Donnelly), McPhee, Ferguson (Sherry).
Subs: Corcoran, Sherry, Gemmell, Donnelly, Jellema.
Forfar: Brown, Lunan, Horn, McClune, Rattray, Sellars, Davidson, Ferry, Henderson, Tosh, King.
Subs: Lowing, Byers, Shields, Maher, Neal Ferrie.
Referee: S Conroy
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