Report by Gilbert Mowat
Accies suffered the heartbreak of elimination from the Scottish Cup under controversial circumstances on Thursday night. With the replay between Accies and Dundee nicely poised at 2-2 just after the start of extra time, Dundee substitute Steven Craig clearly controlled the ball with his arm before firing the ball high into the net to win the game. It was a tough break for an Accies side that had put so much effort into the game and there was to be no way back for the hoops.
Manager Billy Reid had, as expected, brought most of his first choice players back after the win at Dens Park on Saturday. It was hoped that this would give them the edge over a dispirited home side, but it was the home team who controlled much of the first half. There were no goals, but there were some thrilling examples of wing play by 21 year old Mark Gilhaney on the Accies left wing. The wee guy had possibly his best game in an Accies shirt and the home defence were largely bamboozled by his pace and footwork. The decision to give the Tennent's man of the match award to Dundee defender Lee Wilkie was simply lazy decision making.
Accies came close to scoring several times in the first half, with Mark McLaughlin heading an Alex Neil corner kick wide of the post in the first couple of minutes and Mark Gilhaney firing in a good shot that Kelvin Jack had to dive to keep out. The majority of the dangerous play by the home team came from long throw ins delivered by full back Paul Dixon. With Lee Wilkie and Bobby Mann coming up for the set pieces, every corner kick and throw in presented problems for the Accies defence.
The home side were probably "ahead on points" at the break but they broke the deadlock for real after 56 minutes with a well placed Bobby Mann header from yet another long throw in by Dixon. The ball crept in at Dave McEwan's post and the big 'keeper just couldn't reach it. Worse was to follow 12 minutes later, when Simon Lynch got his head to an excellent cross by Tam McManus and his flashing header hit the target. This was Billy Reid's cue to make a couple of changes, with Marvyn Wilson and Pat Keogh replacing Steven Thomson and Scott Tunbridge. (Juanjo had come on for Brown Ferguson earlier.)
Accies adopted a more direct approach to try to get back into the game and they pulled one back after 75 minutes with a nicely executed free kick by Juanjo. The Spaniard curled the ball into the danger area and no-one was able to get a touch on it as it spun into the far corner. This really brought the game to life and both sides really went at it. Marvyn Wilson misplaced the ball in midfield and it was knicked off his toe by Robertson. He ran fully 40 yards towards the Accies goal before being fouled by Stuart Balmer. The yellow card for Balmer was an easy decision for referee Dougie McDonald and Tam McManus had his name taken too for taking his protests too far. The resulting free kick was blasted goalwards by Paul Dixon but Dave McEwan did well to beat it out.
Then, against the odds, Accies grabbed an equaliser. Once again Juanjo caused mayhem in the Dundee penalty area with a well taken free kick. The ball was headed back into the area from the initial clearance before Brian Wake headed the ball in off Pat Keogh. Television pictures showed that Paddy was marginally offside when Wake flicked the ball forwards but it would have been an impossible decision for the assistant referee to make. There were no further goals before the full time whistle so the match went into extra time.
It only took just over a minute of the extra period for Dundee to score the goal that was to prove to be the winner. A Dundee player won the ball in midfield and swept it out wide to Steven Craig, 20 yards from goal. The Dundee player brought the ball under control and past Mark Gilhaney by using his arms. He then neatly side stepped Mark McLaughlin before rifling the ball high past Dave McEwan. It was a good finish and Accies were just unlucky that it was on the blindside of the stand side assistant and the referee's view was momentarily blocked by Marvyn Wilson.
Accies did all they could during the extra period to get back into the game but it wasn't to be. On more than one occasion, they were let down by the state of the pitch at Dens Park, with Mark Gilhaney falling over when he was in a good position right at the end of the game. At full time the home players and fans celebrated in style and the contrast with the emotions of the Accies camp were obvious. Dundee were far from great and this is a game that Accies could have won if they had played at all well.
On a night when too many Accies players didn't do themselves justice, there were still some crumbs of comfort to be gained. Mark Gilhaney was absolutely everywhere and did his fair share of tracking back to go along with the trickery on the wing. In addition, Pat Keogh was a handful for the home defence and Juanjo and Marvyn Wilson did well after they came on. However, the harsh truth is that Accies will be on league duty at Paisley on 1 April rather than at Hampden Park.
Dundee: Jack, McCluskey, Mann, Wilkie, Dixon, Robertson, McManus (Ferguson 98), Kevin McDonald, Brady, Deasley (Craig 76), Lynch (Calum McDonald 116).
Subs Not Used: Murray, Law.
Booked: Kevin McDonald, McManus.
Goals: Mann 56, Lynch 68, Craig 91.
Hamilton: McEwan, Balmer, Thomson (Wilson 70), McLaughlin, Ferguson (Juanjo 51), Robertson, McArthur, Neil, Tunbridge (Keogh 70), Wake, Gilhaney.
Subs Not Used: Jellema, Elebert.
Booked: Thomson, Balmer.
Goals: Juanjo 75, Keogh 82.
Att: 7,460
Ref: D McDonald
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