St Mirren 1 Accies 0: 28 August 2004

Bell's League Division 1

Love St, Paisley, 28 August 2004

Report by George Grandison

An improved second half showing from Accies was not enough to salvage a point from a hard fought game at Love Street. Ultimately, a Brian Carrigan error led to the only goal from Mixu Paatelainen who was sent off late in the game.

The Accies lineup showed a couple of changes from Tuesday night's defeat at rugby Park with Brian McPhee returning to the starting 11 along with midfielder Ryan Blackadder. Chris Aitken dropped to the bench while Scott Tunbridge was nowhere to be seen. The opening period was dominated by the home team although there were few clear cut chances, the nearest effort being a shot from 25 yards that whistled past the post. St Mirren did force a number of corners but David McEwan commanded his area well and was able to take the majority cleanly. Accies once again looked fairly punchless going forward and the best they could manage was a low Blackadder shot from the edge of the box that went straight at Hinchcliffe in the home goal. The only goal of the game came after 36 minutes when Accies gave the ball away cheaply. Keogh passed to Carrigan only for the Accies man to mis-control, almost tripping over the ball in the middle of the Accies half. Suddenly St Mirren had men over and, with hardly a defender in sight, a quick pass to the burly Finn gave him the chance to drive the ball low across the keeper.

Whatever was said at half time certainly seemed to inspire Accies as we began the second half looking like a different team. Within 5 minutes, David Hamilton went n a great run down the right wing, beating a couple of players and feeding McPhee. His cross to the back post fell for Ricky Waddell but his volley was pushed out by the keeper, just beyond the reach of Corcoran. 5 minutes later and a mix-up between defender and keeper outside the area gave Corky the chance to hook a lob towards goal, only for a defender to race back and make a spectacular clearance to keep the ball out. From the resultant corner, Blackadder fired in a 25 yarder that dipped just over the bar. Accies continued to keep up the pressure but were unable to find a way through as St Mirren were pinned back in their own half for long spells. A couple of headers went just over and another long shot did the same as Accies tried hard for the equalizer. Midway through the half, Paatelainen gave away one foul too many and was booked for persistent fouling. Minutes later he seemed to impede Robert Walker on the wing but no action was taken. After yet another foul, he again held back Walker as the full back tried to go past him and received a second yellow with 14 minutes left.

Accies failed to make the extra man count, however, and were fortunate themselves when Steven Thomson held back a Saints forward as he tried to break through. The ref decided a yellow was sufficient but I've seen players sent off on similar circumstances. What annoyed me most was the number of home players who ran (in some cases 40 yards) to plead for the ref to show a red card and continued to argue after a yellow was shown. The media ere are quick to slag off continental players when they do the same but it's a growing and distasteful trend in our own game.

In summary, Accies improved considerably after the break and produced what I thought was the best 45 minutes in the league since opening day. They need to continue that form over the next few weeks if they're to start picking up points. Once again the defence looked solid and I thought David Hamilton had another good game. Pat Keogh again looked ineffectual, this time sitting in front of the central defence, and his first touch was awful on a good few occasions. E can only hope that better is to come. Accies also managed to finish with 10 men - the first I noticed of Stevie Convery was when I saw him limping off 3 minutes from time, by which time all of our subs were already on.

St Mirren: Hinchcliffe, van Zanten, Broadfoot, Millen, McGowne, Reilly, Murray, O'Neil, Paatelainen, McGinty (Baird 72), Lappin (McCay 80).

Subs Not Used: Russell, Ellis, Woods.

Sent Off: Paatelainen (76).

Booked: O'Neil, Paatelainen.

Goals: Paatelainen 36.

Hamilton: McEwan, Walker (Convery 79), Waddell, Thomson, McLaughlin, Hamilton, Carrigan (Fyfe 85), Blackadder (Aitken 84), Keogh, McPhee, Corcoran.

Subs Not Used: Lumsden, Jellema.

Booked: Blackadder, Thomson.

Att: 2,978

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