Bell's Challenge Cup Round 1
Hampden Park, Glasgow, 30 July 2005
Report by Gilbert Mowat
Accies started their campaign with a straightforward win against a Queens side that tried hard but had no inspiration. The win came at a cost, with youngster Mark Gilhaney suffering a painful hamstring injury that will keep him out of action for a couple of months.
With Alex Neil, Ian Harty and John Robertson unavailable through injury and Marvyn Wilson, Dave McEwan and Mark McLaughlin not fully fit, this Accies lineup was not at full strength. They took their time to settle against the amateurs and in the first half you would not have thought that there were two divisions between the sides. The centre backs, Steven Thomson and Stuart Balmer were both guilty of giving the ball away in the early stages and passes went astray throughout the team. The only bright news in the first half came from the performances of Brown Ferguson and Andy Sim, who were causing real problems down the right wing.
Accies created a couple of good chances in the first half, with a good cross by Brown Ferguson giving Mark Gilhaney a chance with a header, but it was well saved by Crawford in the Queens goal. Accies should have taken the lead after 25 minutes when Pat Keogh was put clean through by Andy Sim. Unfortunately, the big man was unable to get his shot in before being tackled by Tony Quinn. Mark Gilhaney had to be replaced shortly afterwards after going down clutching the back of his left leg. He was replaced by Marvyn Wilson, which meant that Brian Carrigan went up front to partner Pat Keogh. Wilson was his usual self, full of energy and hard tackles. He managed to commit three fouls prior to the break and couldn't have been too far away from a yellow card on his Accies debut.
Accies came out after the break in a much more determined mood, presumably after being given some "advice" by the manager. They came cruelly close to taking the lead a couple of minutes after the break when Brian Carrigan's brilliant free kick hit the inside of the post but then ran along the goalline and out of play on the other side. Tom Bennett was next to give the Queens' goalie a fright with a well hit shot from 25 yards that scraped the crossbar. It seemed only a matter of time until Accies would score and, despite having all these new faces around him, it was great to see that it was Steven Thomson who opened the scoring just before the hour, when he stopped low to head a Bennett free kick into the bottom corner.
Until this point, Accies had been playing in a 3-5-2 formation and Billy Reid decided it was time for a change. So he replaced Andy Sim, who had done pretty well, with defender Mark McLaughlin. Accies really took control of the game after this change and the hosts were limited to occasional shots from long distance and the odd attack. Apart from one easy diving save, Raymond Jellema was largely untroubled in the Accies goal. Brown Ferguson was having a stormer and he was very unlucky not to increase the lead when he combined well with Brian Carrigan down the right. He played a great 1-2 with Carrots but his shot from 15 yards flew wide of the goal. It would have been a classic had it gone in.
The second goal was not delayed by too long however. After 79 minutes, Stuart Balmer fired in a low volley that was cleared off the line and went out for a corner. Brian Carrigan sent in a lovely inswinging cross and Brown Ferguson headed home from close range. With the game now over as a contest, Billy Reid was able to take off Brian Carrigan for the final 10 minutes and give Graeme Jones a run out. Carrots had played really well and left the pitch with a smile on his face. He HAD missed with a couple of efforts on goal and if he'd been on target Accies would have won the game even more easily. But he was only just behind Brown Ferguson as Accies top player.
Accies were in total command by this time and scored a third goal near the end through Lee Hardy. Good play by Graeme Jones left him with only the goalkeeper to beat and his shot gave Crawford no chance. One of the Queens Park defenders tried to trip him on his way through and he received a yellow card for his troubles. If he had succeeded in pulling him down the card would have been of a different colour.
So this was a decent first game for Accies. They were not very good in the first half but got better as the game went on. Perhaps it was good to start with this game rather than go straight into a league match. Hopefully, by the time the Brechin match comes around some more of the key players will be fit. Best for Accies were Brown Ferguson, who deservedly won the sponsor's man of the match award, Brian Carrigan and Marvyn Wilson, who will be a key man for the team this season.
A satisfactory start to the season, it's just a pity that Mark Gilhaney will be out for a while as he looked really promising.
Queen's Park: Crawford, Reilly, Clark, Sinclair, Molloy, Kettlewell (Weatherston 80), Harvey, Quinn, Ferry, Bowers (Whelan 83), Weir (Felvus 61).
Subs Not Used: Agostini, Cowie.
Booked: Clark
Hamilton: Jellema, Ferguson, Balmer, Thomson, Hodge, Carrigan (Jones 80), Sim (McLaughlin 60), Bennett, Hardy, Keogh, Gilhaney (Wilson 30).
Subs Not Used: Anderson, McEwan.
Booked: Carrigan.
Att: 755
Ref: A Hunter
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