Hamilton Accies 1
Torres 91
Queen of the South 0
Report by Gilbert Mowat
Accies defeated Queen of the South 1-0 in a cup replay that certainly took it's time to get going. Manager Billy Reid shuffled his pack yet again, this time it was goalkeeper Dave McEwan who was sitting in the stand after sustaining a non-football injury at the weekend. The big man suffered a further blow in the first half when his bottle of juice was confiscated by a steward.
Queens were probably the better team for most of the first half, although they didn't create anything resembling a chance. They did force a couple of corners but they were dealt with by the Accies defence. Raymond Jellema spilled a high cross after 16 minutes but the ball was knocked wide by a Queens forward. That was to be his only moment of real concern in the first half. Accies got going a bit after this, with Brian Carrigan having his shot from just inside the area blocked. Scott MacKenzie suffered an ankle injury after 24 minutes and was replaced by teenager James McArthur.
Accies came into things more after this, with Scott Tunbridge's powerful shot bringing a good save out of Richie Barnard in the visitors goal. Brian Carrigan also put over a couple of lovely crosses before the break but there were no takers. He got involved in a bit of a tussle with Brian Reid that was soon sorted out by the referee, although Reid did manage to foul Carrots twice from behind within a couple of minutes before the interval.
After an excellent half time display by some of the Accies youth teams, Accies got into their stride early in the second period and it has to be said that Derek Fleming had an excellent 45 minutes. His first action was to send over a cross to the back post which looked dangerous but found no Accies man. Minutes later, Queens had their best opportunity of the night when Raymond Jellema made a good save from a shot by Steve Bowey. Jelly was hurt in the process but was able to carry on after treatment, presumably much to the relief of the Accies management.
After another good couple of bits of play by Derek Fleming (including a well struck volley that went well wide), we had the first changes of the second half, with Accies putting on Rudy Torres for Paul McLeod and Willie Gibson and Chris Carr replacing Gary Wood and John O'Neill for Queens. Accies had some more good moments, with Scott Tunbridge heading over the top and Rudy Torres getting free on the left but he had his cross blocked for a corner. Richie Barnard had a couple of nervous moments with corner kicks but his goal survived intact.
As the second half came to a close, Jim Thomson of Queens was the first player to go into the referee's book, Mark Gilhaney came on for the exhausted Brian Carrigan and right at the end John Robertson's direct free kick went straight to the well positioned Barnard.
The game restarted after the usual break and Accies grabbed what was to prove to be the winner after just 44 seconds of extra time. It was created by Brown Ferguson, who got free on the right wing and sent over a brilliant cross that was headed into the net by Spaniard Rudy Torres for his first Accies goal. The game really opened up after this (as you might expect) and visiting manager Ian McCall threw caution to the wind by replacing centre back Brian Reid with diminutive (and transfer listed) midfielder Brian McLaughlin. Queens came reasonably close with a superb corner kick that was missed by everyone in the middle, while Accies created a couple of half chances with Rudy Torres firing over the top and Brown Ferguson putting over a good cross that missed everyone.
The final quarter of an hour was the usual frantic last chunk of a cup tie. Queens ended up with Jim Thomson playing up front and their understandable emphasis on attack left quite a few gaps for the Accies forwards to exploit. First of all, Scott Tunbridge shot over the crossbar and then Richie Barnard produced two magnificent saves to keep his side in with a chance. First of all, Mark Gilhaney wriggled clear on the left and his powerful shot from an acute angle was superbly tipped away by Barnard. Then Mark McLaughlin met a corner kick flush on his forehead but Barnard somehow got a fist to the ball to push it away. It was a shame for the big man as his wonderful display at the heart of the Accies defence really merited a goal. With almost all of the visiting team committed to attack, Accies got a chance to kill the game off but Scott Tunbridge's shot from inside his own half went well wide.
There were a few bookings before the end, including Scott Tunbridge and Rudy Torres for Accies. Rudy's daft action of kicking the ball away means that he will miss the match in the next round against Alloa Athletic.
This wasn't the best ever Accies performance by a long way, but the players gave everything they had and really deserved the win. Best in the hoops were Mark McLaughlin and Derek Fleming at the back and Alex Neil, Brian Carrigan and James McArthur in midfield. But there were no failures and it was fabulous to see Rudy Torres get off the mark with such a well taken and valuable goal.
Manager Billy Reid spoke after the game. "It was a really hard game. There weren't many chances in the first half, we passed the ball well but didn't have much penetration. I thought that Alex Neil dictated the play in the middle of the park and it wasn't until late in the second half that we started to impose ourselves and look as though we were going to get something from the game. In extra time we scored a really smashing goal with a great header by Rudy Torres and after that I thought we dominated the game and maybe could have scored a couple more. All credit to Queen of the South, Ian McCall has got them going again. They've made some changes as we saw on Saturday and anyone who plays them will get a hard game from them. All credit to them; I know they will be disappointed but I have to concern myself with Accies. We had some great performances tonight. Raymond Jellema came in for just his third game and apart from dropping the ball once he didn't put a foot wrong. We're just delighted to be in the next round."
"We rested James McArthur tonight as we weren't sure if Alex Neil would last the whole game but it was Scott Mackenzie who had to come off with an ankle knock. Young James is a good talent, he's just turned 18 and he's certainly one for the future."
Defender Mark McLaughlin commented, "I thought the first half was pretty even, but in the second half and in extra time we were the only team that was going to win it. Brown put in a superb cross and Rudy scored with a great header. But there wasn't much in it as we've played Queens in three games and they were all draws. It's a great result and is fantastic for the club. We're really delighted to get through but we know that the Alloa game will be really hard as well."
Queens manager Ian McCall agreed that his players had put in a lot of effort but said, "Ultimately it wasn't good enough. I thought that we were the better team in the first half but in the second half and in extra time Hamilton showed the benefits of full time training. They finished stronger but in the end it came down to one player making a mistake. It's the same old story. When that happens and they keep making mistakes the only thing you can do is to change the personnel and that's what we're trying to do. We've brought three or four in and hope to have another two or three this week, but I can't fault the players for their magnificent effort tonight. They were out on their feet at the end. We've played Hamilton Accies three times now and I thought there was nothing between the teams. Ronnie and Billy are going for it this year, they've spent a bit of money and have a squad of full time players. I'm very proud of my team but ultimately we weren't good enough. I think we should have won the last two games against Hamilton but tonight they shaded it. The players wanted to win so much and the Directors had put up a fantastic bonus for them but it wasn't to be."
Hamilton Accies: Jellema, Robertson, Thomson, McLaughlin, Fleming, Ferguson, Neil, MacKenzie (McArthur 24), Carrigan (Gilhaney 88), Tunbridge, McLeod (Torres 66).
Subs Not Used: McMullan, McLenaghen. Goals: Torres 91. Booked: Torres, Tunbridge
Queen of the South: Barnard, Paton, Thomson, Reid (McLaughlin 95), English, Lovell, Burns, Bowey, O'Neil (Robertson 70), Lyle, Wood (Gibson 64).
Subs Not Used: Scott, Carr. Booked: Thomson, Gibson.
Referee: C. Thompson
Att: 1,747
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