Accies managed their first win over Stenhousemuir in Hamilton since January 1974 when two stupendous second half goals - scored within a couple of minutes in the second half - gave them the points in a tricky match at New Douglas Park.
Accies were boosted by the return of Todd Lumsden to the centre of the defence, although Stevie Convery had to settle for a place on the bench. Allan Maitland persevered with Mark Corcoran up front and John Bailey on the left side of midfield.
Accies got off to a decent start and looked to be comfortable on the ball from the beginning. But as time went by in the first half, poor play allowed Stenhousemuir to get into the game. Not that Stenny were any good, it was more that Accies seemed to lack cohesion and gave them plenty of time on the ball. Actual goalscoring chances in the first period were few and far between, with Mark Corcoran missing a decent chance with a close range header. Todd Lumsden got in a decent header too that was well saved by Willie McCulloch in the visitor's goal.
The visitors came mighty close to scoring when Stevie Mallon beat the offside trap and beat Davie McEwan to a high bouncing ball. Fortunately for Accies, his header rolled wide of the target.
Not a particularly good first half for Accies, but I thought the muted boos that greeted the half time whistle were a bit unfair.
The first notable incident of the second half came after 50 minutes, when John McVeigh made a triple substitution, bringing Mark Booth, Paul Bonar and Andy Brown into the game. He was probably just keen to get three of his top players into the game for the remaining 40 minutes, but to make all of his available changes so early was a major gamble.
Accies were still the better team but chances were at a premium. John Bailey was full of running and great skill but it didn't really seem to be getting Accies anywhere. Mark Corcoran wasn't having a particularly happy afternoon and he was replaced by Stevie Convery after the hour.
By this time there was a general feeling of unease that Accies, while having the lions' share of possession and undoubtedly playing the better football, had not broken the deadlock. In fact, they survived a penalty scare when Stevie Mallon appeared to be tripped inside the area. (However, some others near me said it was a good tackle.)
It's been a long time since Accies scored two fabulous goals in a single game, but to do it in the space of a couple of minutes was fantastic.
The first goal, after 72 minutes, was the result of some great short passing and good movement on the left side of the park. Sandy Hodge got the ball on the half way line and played it down the line to one of his teammates, probably John Bailey. He cut inside to receive the return pass before knocking it forward to Brian Carrigan on the edge of the area. Carrots passed it back to Hodge, who took another stride forward before thundering the ball high into the top left corner from about 20 yards out - with his right foot! The celebrations were great and he pointed at his right foot in surprise at scoring with his (wrong) foot.
If that goal was good - which it was - it was surpassed by an even better effort just a minute later. Chris Aitken (who has yet to score an average goal for Accies), got the break of the ball just inside his own half. With Accies players peeling off to the left and right, lesser mortals might have considered playing a pass. Not Chris. He took a look up and sent the ball over the goalkeeper's head and into the net from well inside the centre circle. It was probably a 50 yarder, which makes it the longest shot to produce a goal since the stadium opened a couple of years ago. It was very similar to the famous goal scored by David Beckham at Selhurst Park some years ago and was well worthy of the standing ovation it received.
Stenhousemuir were reeling from the double blow and it was heartening to see their manager John McVeigh shut up for once. They huffed and they puffed, but found it very hard to get into any shooting positions. Their only decent chance came with 6 minutes remaining when Davie McEwan had to tip a netbound shot from Mark Booth over the bar.
Accies developed a couple of decent opportunities too but had done all their good shooting for the day. The visitors were their usual physical selves and three of them were booked for an assortment of fouls. There were a couple of heated moments, both featuring Jim Sherry, but he controlled himself reasonably well and no Accies players fell foul of the referee.
The win was well deserved, but in the most part I thought this was a lacklustre performance by Accies. I felt that Andy Whiteford at full back and Mark Corcoran up front struggled to cope with the game. I hope Corcoran gets a goal soon to boost his confidence.
The remainder of the team did pretty well without being particularly great. Accies undoubtedly have a skillful team these days and when they really gel they will do some of the other teams some real damage. However, Stenhousemuir could have got something from the game if they hadn't been extremely poor.
Sandy Hodge was the sponsors' man of the match and he did well today - that goal was fantastic. But the main talking point will remain that superlative strike from top scorer Chris Aitken.
Hamilton: McEwan, Whiteford, Thomson, Lumsden, Hodge, Carrigan (Forbes), Aitken, Sherry, Bailey, McPhee (Gribben), Corcoran (Convery).
Subs: Convery, Forbes, Arbuckle, Gribben, Jellema.
Stenhousemuir: McCulloch, Gaughan, Tully, Hamilton, McKenna, Lauchlan, McKenzie, McCloy, Harty, Mallon, Carr.
Subs: Donnelly, Brown, Booth, Bonar, Parry.
Referee: J Fleming
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