Clyde 2
O'Donnell 28, 53
Hamilton Accies 2
Balmer 59
Torres 60
Report by Gilbert Mowat
Accies and Clyde shared the points today in an exciting game packed with incident. Ultimately, the result means that Accies lie 10 points adrift of league leaders St Mirren with just 11 games remaining. For Accies, new signing Juanjo started the game after signing on loan from Inverness Caledonian Thistle the previous day. He replaced Derek Fleming, which meant that Paul McMullan was in charge of defensive duties on the left.
Accies got off to a good start and were certainly the better team for long parts of the first half. Within the first ten minutes, Brian Carrigan had two decent attempts on goal but Clyde goalkeeper Peter Cherrie was untroubled. Tom Brighton came very close to opening the scoring for the home side when his good header beat Raymond Jellema but rebounded from the crossbar. Accies had a great spell after this with Brian Carrigan latching onto an exquisite pass from the impressive Mark Gilhaney. He rounded Cherrie but, from a tight angle, was only able to fire the ball wide of the target. Carrots returned the favour after 26 minutes to give Gilhaney a chance but his powerful shot was well saved.
Attacks by the home team had been fairly ineffective but they took the lead against the run of play after 29 minutes when a long range shot by Stephen O'Donnell took a horrendous deflection off an Accies man and completely wrongfooted Raymond Jellema. Accies were given the run around for a while after this, with Stuart Balmer coming close to scoring an own goal when his defensive header from a corner narrowly cleared the crossbar. Shortly before the break, Alex Neil was the first man to be shown a yellow card by referee Stuart Dougal for persistent fouling.
Just after the interval, Accies were a bit slow to get going. John Robertson made a mess of an intended clearance to give Clyde a shooting chance but the ball went over the top when a goal looked likely. Mark Gilhaney was having a very impressive game on the right wing and his every touch was met with a chorus of booing by the home supporters. (This was either a comment on his decision to come to Accies or a tribute to his talent.) In any event, he did not deserve the treatment he received from Clyde full back Eddie Malone after 46 minutes. Having fouled the Accies player, Malone then proceeded to thump the ball off the prone Gilhaney's head from close range. Referee Stuart Dougal's only action was to calm down the Accies players who protested about this.
Gilhaney was soon back in action and after 51 minutes another excellent run into the danger area ended when he was tripped by one of the Clyde defenders. Sadly, Brian Carrigan's penalty was poorly struck and it was fairly easily saved by Cherrie. This was Carrigan's first penalty failure since joining Accies and it was bound to happen sometime. He didn't let it get to him and continued to play really well throughout he game. things got worse for Accies just a couple of minutes later, when Clyde were awarded a direct free kick about 22 yards out. Raymond Jellema in the Accies goal had Stephen O'Donnell's shot covered, but he let it slip through his grasp and it trundled just over the line.
Just a few minutes later, Billy Reid decided it was time for his first change and replaced Paul McMullan with Rudy Torres. The change was made as Brian Carrigan was preparing to take a free kick and when it was taken he put a beauty into the danger area, where it was headed into the corner of the goal by coach Stuart Balmer, for his first goal for Accies. It was "game on" now and we didn't have long to wait for more reason to be cheerful. This time there was some neat passing in the penalty area and Spanish substitute Rudy Torres lifted the ball over Cherrie to make it 2-2.
Accies had a nasty few minutes after this and Clyde had two brilliant chances to regain their lead. First of all, Raymond Jellema his a suicidal goal kick that went straight to Joe Miller at the edge of the area. The wee veteran hit his shot well but Jellema did well to save. Then, Tom Brighton took advantage of a mix up between Stuart Balmer and Jellema and was presented with an even better chance than Miller's. With only one man on the goalline and Jellema behind him, he managed to roll the ball wide of the post. He pulled his shirt over his head for a few seconds, presumably trying to hide his shame or drown out the sounds of laughter from the Accies fans.
There were a couple of yellow cards in amongst all this action. First of all Mark McLaughlin was punished for tripping Tom Brighton and then Clyde defender Bouadji was penalised for persistent fouling. Then followed Accies best chance to grab all of the points when a pinpoint cross from the right was headed goalwards by Brian Carrigan only for the ball to be blocked by Cherrie. Scott Tunbridge was following up but just couldn't reach the ball.
With 15 minutes left, Mark McLaughlin was probably lucky to remain on the park when he tripped a Clyde man in midfield. Stuart Dougal looked like he was reaching for his cards but then took his hand away from his pocket. Another referee might have taken the ultimate sanction. However, this was not a dirty game and it would have been unfortunate if the player had been disciplined any further. There was one more yellow card, with Eddie Malone being punished for just one foul too many on Mark Gilhaney.
Accies made a couple of changes towards the end of the game, with Paul McLeod replacing the tiring Juanjo and David Elebert making his debut in place of Mark McLaughlin. He slotted in well at the left side of defence. As the game drew to a close, Tom Brighton headed narrowly past the goal while Raymond Jellema did well to save a powerful shot. Clyde committed a couple of foul throws right in front of the Accies support. One was for taking the throw in from the wrong place while the other was for having his feet over the line. Funnily enough, the Assistant Referee flagged moments after an Accies fan shouted out, "Linesman, his feet are over the line!"
There were to be no further goals and the players left to applause from the Accies fans, who certainly appreciated their efforts. Best for Accies was probably Mark Gilhaney on the right, who tormented the Clyde defence throughout the game. The players certainly gave everything they had and a draw was about right.
Clyde: Cherrie, McGregor, Malone, Higgins, Bouadji, Masterton (McDonald 62), Bryson, O'Donnell, Miller (Arbuckle 55), Tom Brighton, McGowan.
Subs Not Used: Harris, McHale, Jarvie.
Booked: Bouadji, Malone.
Goals: O'Donnell 28, 53.
Hamilton: Jellema, Robertson, McMullan (Torres 58), Thomson, McLaughlin (Elebert 81), Neil, Gilhaney, Balmer, Juanjo (McLeod 78), Tunbridge, Carrigan.
Subs Not Used: Ferguson, McLenaghen. Booked: Neil, McLaughlin.
Goals: Balmer 59, Torres 60.
Att: 1,408
Ref: S Dougal
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