Bell's League Division 1

New Douglas Park, Hamilton,

29th October 2005

Report by Gilbert Mowat

Accies moved back into second place in the league with this lacklustre win against a sturdy Stranraer side. Manager Billy Reid made a couple of changes to the team that lost heavily at Perth in midweek, with Steven Thomson replacing Sandy Hodge at the back and Brian Carrigan returning in place of Brown Ferguson.

The first half was a fairly uneven affair and it was clear from the start that Stranraer were a step ahead of Brechin, whom Accies outplayed just 7 days before. In fact, former Accies man David Hamilton landed a cross onto the top of the crossbar within the first couple of minutes as they started out with the clear intention of taking the game to Accies. As it turned out, that was to be their best chance of the game.

Accies struggled to get going, with only a neat turn and shot by Alex Neil troubling Barry John Corr in the visitor's goal. At the back, the Accies defence had to be on their toes on several occasions and former Accie Michael Moore was proving to be a real handful as usual. Moore was to be yellow carded in the first half, as was his strike partner Leigh Hinds.

With Accies' fancy footwork not getting them very far, it took a long through ball to finally pierce the Stranraer defence just before the break. The ball was played beautifully into the path of bustling striker Graeme Jones and he used his strength well to hold off the defenders before slotting the ball low past Corr. It was 1-0 at the break and Accies just about deserved their lead.

As the game progressed into the second half, Accies still found it difficult to make an impression on the Stranraer defence. Billy Reid withdrew Brian Carrigan and Graeme Jones just after the hour, with Mark Gilhaney and Pat Keogh taking their places. Both subs did pretty well, with Gilhaney in particular giving the Stranraer defence the runaround. Having said that, the visitors were virtually encamped in the Accies half for about 20 minutes of the half, with waves of aerial attacks being mopped up by Steven Thomson and Stuart Balmer. Thomson made a very welcome return to the heart of the defence and won the match sponsor's man of the match award.

With Stranraer pressing forward as much as they could, they began to leave the occasional gap at the back for Gilhaney and Neil to exploit. Pat Keogh came close to increasing the lead when he was put through on the left but his left footed shot went wide of goal. The visitors had no answer to Mark Gilhaney and it was great to see the wee guy net his first goal for the club with just 5 minutes remaining. The ball was fed down the right channel and he outsprinted the defence before hitting the ball low into the corner of Corr's goal.

Gilhaney nearly grabbed a second goal near the end when good play between him and Neil left him with just Corr to beat. He managed to get around the goalie but his left footed shot was cleared off the line by a Stranraer defender. That would have put an unfair impression about the play of the two sides. Accies struggled at times but did score two excellent goals. The visitors were as difficult as they were expected to be but showed little cutting edge. Dave McEwan made one save in the game, when he got down quickly to smother a well hit long range effort.

The three points were very welcome, but I am sure that Billy Reid would have preferred a more fluent performance ahead of the Cup Final next Sunday. On the plus side Steven Thomson steadied the ship at the back, two good goals were scored, no-one was booked and it didn't look as if there were any fresh injuries.

Accies are now back in second place in the league. I don't think anyone would complain about that.

Hamilton: McEwan, Robertson, Thomson, Balmer, Fleming, Carrigan (Gilhaney 63), Neil, Wilson, MacKenzie, Tunbridge, Jones (Keogh 63).

Subs Not Used: Ferguson, Hodge, Jellema.

Goals: Jones 42, Gilhaney 85.

Stranraer: Corr, Higgins (Marshall 66), Wingate, Henderson, Keddie, Hamilton, Aitken (Walker 66), Jenkins, Hinds (Shields 83), Moore, Sharp.

Subs Not Used: Dowie, Morrison.

Booked: Hinds, Moore.

Att: 1,334

Ref: M Tumilty

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