Hamilton Accies 3 Alloa Athletic 4
Bell's Scottish League Division 2
New Douglas Park, Hamilton, 4 October 2003
Report by Gilbert Mowat
Accies put the emotions of their supporters through the wringer on Saturday when they lost 4-3 to Alloa at New Douglas Park. An outsider might think that this was a cracking match, but the truth was that the Accies defence looked as if they would be unable to tackle a fish supper, let alone a team that had just been relegated from Division 1.
There were a couple of disappointments when the Accies team was read out, with neither Brian McPhee nor Stevie Convery able to make the squad. This meant that Mark Corcoran and John Bailey were the inexperienced pairing up front. The visitors had a fair number of experienced players in their side, including former Accies favourite Stuart Callaghan. (In fact, he contributed little to their success although he milked the goal celebrations for all they were worth.)
Accies got off to a decent start and the Alloa 'keeper had to make a couple of good saves in the opening stages. But there weren't any decent chances created and the absence of Brian McPhee in particular was very noticeable. Accies only really played in fits and starts and had only one or two good moves in the half. Most of the chances fell to Mark Corcoran, who fired the ball high and wide of the goal on two occasions after cutting in from the wing. The former Linlithgow man was also caught offside on a few occasions, but at least he was getting stuck in and making an effort.
Alloa seemed to increase in confidence as the game progressed, although it should be stressed that their defence seemed to get the heebeegeebees anytime Mark Corcoran or John Bailey had a run at them. Anyway, things started to go tits-up for Accies after 32 minutes, when Ian Little scored a scrappy goal from close range. The re-start was delayed for a while as Dave McEwan received treatment after colliding with one of his teammates in the run-up to the goal.
Things got even worse just 7 minutes later when Neil Janczyk strolled through the static Accies defence before rifling the ball into the top corner past a motionless McEwan. I don't think anyone even tried to put in a tackle! Just as we all thought it couldn't get any worse, it promptly did, with Ian Little heading home a fine cross from the right. Once again, the Accies defenders were almost motionless, with McEwan strangely reluctant to come off his line to challenge for the ball. Accies left the park to a chorus of boos, with Barry Forbes shaking his head to manager Allan Maitland as he left the pitch.
There was an ominous appeal for David McEwan's father to go to the dressing room at half time and it was obvious that the on-loan Livingston goalkeeper had sustained a major injury when conceding the first goal. This explains in part the relatively easy manner in which the second and third goals were conceded. He was replaced at the interval by young Raymond Jellema, who made his top team debut in the second half. Manager Allan Maitland sprang a bit of a surprise, with Jim Sherry and Barry Forbes being replaced by Andy Arbuckle and Alan Waddell.
The treble change certainly sparked some life into Accies and they scored two fine goals in the opening couple of minutes of the second half. The first goal came when the ball broke to Chris Aitken on the edge of the area following a Brian Carrigan corner. Tiff rifled the ball low into the bottom corner - will this guy ever score a crap goal for Accies? Within a minute, Accies scored another with John Bailey getting down the left wing before sending over a fine cross. Brian Carrigan won the ball in the air and his looping header wrong footed James Evans in the Alloa goal.
Inevitably, the game went into a bit of a lull after all that excitement. Chris Aitken had a double chance to equalise but his shots were well held by Evans. That was to prove crucial, when Ian Little completed his hat trick after 70 minutes when he rose well to head home a fine cross from the right. Once more the defending was abysmal, with no proper challenge being made on the right and Little being unmarked in the middle. No blame could be attached to Jellema, with the ball going into the top corner.
Accies pressed again for all they were worth, but with the score being 4-2 now it was always going to be difficult. The defence left big gaps at the back but the Alloa forwards were unable to stretch their lead any further. Accies gave their fans a glimmer of hope near the end when Mark Corcoran scored from close range after fine work by Chris Aitken on the right. But it wasn't enough and Alloa held on for the three points that they deserved.
It was generally a poor display by Accies, particularly at the back where many mistakes were made. I thought that Chris Aitken, John Bailey and Brian Carrigan were Accies best players, with Andy Arbuckle (unluckily booked) and Alan Waddell looking lively as half-time substitutes. But this was a match they will want to forget.
Accies: McEwan (Jellema 45), Whiteford, Hodge, Thomson, Lumsden, Sherry (Arbuckle 45), Carrigan, Aitken, Corcoran, Forbes (Waddell 45), Bailey.
Unused Subs: Gribben and Donnelly
Alloa: James Evans, Nicolson, Seaton, Valentine, McGowan, Scott Walker, Richard Walker, Janczyk, Hamilton, Callaghan, Little.
Subs: Crabbe, Watson, Gillan, McLaughlin, Tripoulos.
Referee: G Mitchell
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