Accies made their first visit to Gayfield for over three years - and returned with a well deserved point from a difficult game. Manager Allan Maitland made no changes to the team that defeated Airdrie United last week, with signing John Bailey not fit enough to play. John Fitter got a place on the bench after missing out last week. If you haven't been to Gayfield I can recommend it - it's one of those old fashioned grounds where you can wander right round the terracing and switch ends at half time, just like our beloved Douglas Park.
Accies started reasonably well and almost took the lead in the opening minute with a low shot from Brian Carrigan that flashed by the far post. The home team started to get a grip of things however and the Accies defence had to be on their toes to keep out the Arbroath attack. Accies suffered a major blow midway through the half when Stevie Convery pulled up with what looked like a recurrence of the groin injury he sustained pre-season. He was immediately replaced by young Andy Arbuckle, who was pushed into midfield with Mark Corcoran going up front beside Brian McPhee.
Arbuckle was instrumental in the opening goal after 32 minutes, when he ran over to take a throw in on the Accies right. He flung the ball into the penalty area, where it was flicked on by Brian McPhee for Brian Carrigan to volley low into the corner with an excellent finish.
Unfortunately, Accies were only able to hold the lead for a couple of minutes. John Cusick rolled home a penalty after Steven Thomson had been penalised (and yellow carded) for a handball offence in the area. A completely impartial observer (an Accies fan) told me at half time that it couldn't have been intentional. The Accies goal led a bit of a charmed life until the interval, but David McEwan was in good form and the scores were level at the break.
The early stages of the second half probably belonged to the home team. Not that they were particularly good, it was just that the Accies team didn't seem to be playing with much cohesion. I'm sure that they were trying hard enough - there just didn't seem to be much inspiration in their play.
Moments after David McEwan made a terrific goal-line save from a point blank header, the home team took the lead after 62 minutes. This time it was a high cross from the left wing that was bulleted into the top corner by the forehead of John McGlashan. No blame at all could be given to McEwan, although the marking was a bit suspect.
It was only after they went behind that Accies really got going. Allan Maitland made a few changes, with Todd Lumsden and Mark Corcoran being replaced by Nicki Paterson and Darren Gribben. Brian McPhee seemed to get a new lease of life and he started to torment the Arbroath defence. After 82 minutes, The Bee got down the right wing and took the ball past the goalkeeper before squaring it for Gribben. Sadly, one of the home defenders managed to knock it out for a corner.
The equaliser wasn't delayed for long. Carrigan's kick from the right was headed in at the far post by Steven Thomson, for his first goal since returning from Alloa and he ran to celebrate in front of the ecstatic Accies support.
After this, there was only going to be one winner. Accies pummeled the Arbroath goal and I'm not quite sure how it survived the siege. Brian McPhee was involved in everything and I'm sure he'll be annoyed at not taking one of the chances that came along. First of all, he was put clean through by a neat pass from Darren Gribben. The Bee expertly drew the 'keeper, but his low shot just scraped the post. Minutes later, he took advantage of a defensive error to volley towards the goal, only to be denied by a fine save from former Queens Park 'keeper Tony Mitchell.
McPhee's final chance came right at the end, when he got round the goalie (again) wide on the right but his attempt at the goal went over the bar from a tight angle. Chris Aitken also got in on the act with a low shot that was saved quite easily.
At the final whistle, the home fans were not slow to voice their disapproval at how the game had finished. I'm not sure if all of their anger was directed at John Brownlie. The referee had a stinker too, giving several daft decisions.
So it was a patchy performance from Accies, but they came very close to getting all three points at the end. Getting a draw at the home of the team that's just come down from Division 1 isn't a disaster.
However, I suspect that Allan Maitland will want to make some changes to the team. With Stevie Convery injured, I really hope he has a new striker in mind before the transfer deadline. Having said that, the introduction of the impressive Andy Arbuckle, Nicki Paterson and Darren Gribben showed that the young players at Accies will make a decent contribution this season.
Arbroath: Mitchell, McMullen, King (Farquharson 70), Rennie, Brown, Cusick (Henslee 77), McAulay, Dow, Graham (Kerrigan 63), McGlashan, Herkes.
Subs: Kerrigan, Henslee, Bowman, Farquharson, Woodcock.
Hamilton: McEwan, Whiteford, Hodge, Steven Thomson, Lumsden (Paterson 76), Sherry, Carrigan, Aitken, Convery (Arbuckle 27), McPhee, Corcoran (Gribben 70).
Subs: Arbuckle, Paterson, Gribben, Fitter, Jellema.
Referee: C MacKay
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