Bell's League Division 1

Excelsior Stadium, Airdrie,

12th November 2005

Report by Gilbert Mowat

Accies allowed two precious points to slip through their fingers when substitute Willie McLaren scored in the last minute of this Lanarkshire derby. It was a tough one to take, as Accies had been the better team for the majority of the match. With regular central defenders Mark McLaughlin, Steven Thomson and Stuart Balmer unavailable through injury, manager Billy Reid had to take a chance by playing midfielder Scott Mackenzie in an unfamiliar role in the middle of a new-look back three beside John Robertson and Sandy Hodge. Further forward, Graeme Jones was missing after being injured against St Mirren so Pat Keogh was recalled as was Brian Carrigan. Andy Sim and Paul McLeod were promoted to the subs bench alongside regulars Raymond Jellema and Mark Gilhaney and there was the first appearance of new signing Paul McMullan. This meant that every fit member of the first team squad was either on the pitch or the bench.

The early part of the game was the usual to and fro of any Lanarkshire derby, with both sides having their share of possession but no real clear cut chances being created. That changed after 28 minutes when old Accies favourite Brian McPhee scored the opener for the home side. Moments after having appeals for a free kick rejected by referee Charlie Richmond, the ball broke to the Bee on the edge of the area and he curled an exquisite shot low past Dave McEwan. He then naturally did his sliding-on-his-kness celebration that the Accies fans used to enjoy so much.

Accies came back into the game and Brian Carrigan had no fewer than three shots on goal. Sadly two of them were well off target but his third clipped the post after being deflected. At the other end, the Accies makeshift defence looked a bit nervous at times but they didn't sustain any further damage before the interval. A feature of the first half had been the excellent play down the right wing by John Robertson and particularly Brown Ferguson. Unfortunately, one promising overlap by Brown was halted because an Airdrie player in midfield was down clutching an ankle. He had not been fouled and it was not a head injury, but Richmond stopped the game all the same. After treatment, the player rejoined the game immediately and the ball was booted all the way back to Dave McEwan. This led one exasperated Accies fan to complain that he had paid £15 to be entertained and this was unfair.

Happily, Accies scored an equaliser just a couple of minutes into the second half. After a corner kick move led to nothing, the ball was hooked back into the danger area by Brian Carrigan and it was John Robertson who headed home for his second goal of the season. The goal gave Accies real confidence and they took the game to the home side from then on. Brian Carrigan had been involved in a lot of the good things that had happened for Accies but he was to be included in a double substitution after 58 minutes. That meant the introduction of Mark Gilhaney and a debut for Paul McMullan. Pat Keogh left to applause from the Accies fans but the fans were quieter for the departure of Carrigan. I suspect that this was due to surprise at his withdrawal.

Sometimes, substitutions can have a dramatic impact on a game and that's precisely what happened here. No sooner had Paul McMullan arrived on the park than he sprinted past the lumbering Airdrie right back and fired over a brilliant pacy cross that Brown Ferguson thumped into the net from close range. It was an excellent goal and no more than Accies deserved at this stage. Accies continued to impress and they did all they could to get that vital third goal. Scott Tunbridge clipped the bar with a free kick and John Robertson headed just over the top from another brilliant McMullan cross. The best chance, however, fell to Mark Gilhaney, who was left with just the keeper to beat. He did everything right but his shot was tipped around the post by Robertson in the Airdrie goal. That would have finished the game as a contest.

However, as happened last season Accies lost a last minute goal at Airdrie. This time it was substitute Willie McLaren who fired home from 10 yards with just a minute remaining. Indeed, the home side nearly grabbed all three points in injury time when Dave McEwan had to tip a Bryan Prunty header over the top.

So it was a good performance by Accies given the circumstances but extremely frustrating that they didn't get the win they deserved. Best for Accies were goalscorers Robertson and Ferguson, plus Alex Neil and Marvyn Wilson in the midfield. Scott Tunbridge ran his heart out and Brian Carrigan had one of those days when he tried his best but little came off. Mark Gilhaney will be kicking himself for missing the chance but looks impressive, as does Paul McMullan. I think McMullan's pace and quality will cause problems for a lot of teams before the end of the season. However, possibly the most impressive Accies performer was Scott MacKenzie in the heart of the defence. He was calm and controlled throughout and rarely made any mistakes.

Interestingly, after the earlier game at New Douglas Park, when Billy Reid salvaged a point by opting for the aerial route to goal, this Accies team insisted on passing the ball out of defence at every opportunity. This led to long spells of neat passing play but they did keep possession well most of the time. However, after dominating the game and leading for most of the second half, this will certainly be viewed as two points dropped by the Accies management.

After the game, Accies boss Billy Reid told the Sunday Mail, " When you lose a goal in the last minute it's definitely two points lost. It's a trait we've developed this season - we're not starting well enough and we need to be more professional. I'm not making excuses but we had to change the whole back three from the cup final team. We need to be more disciplined. We had chances to kill the game off."

Airdrie Utd: Robertson, McKenna, Lovering, McGowan, McManus, Hardie (Docherty 63), Barkey (McLaren 73), McKeown, Prunty, McPhee, McDougall (Coyle 90). Subs Not Used: Dunn, Hollis.

Booked: Lovering, Hardie, McManus.

Goals: McPhee 28, McLaren 89.

Hamilton: McEwan, Robertson, Fleming, Ferguson, Hodge, Neil, Tunbridge, Wilson, Keogh (Gilhaney 58), MacKenzie, Carrigan (McMullan 58). Subs Not Used: Sim, McLeod, Jellema.

Booked: Hodge, Carrigan, Fleming.

Goals: Robertson 48, Ferguson 60.

Att: 1,375

Ref: C Richmond

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