Accies recorded an excellent away victory at Dingwall on Saturday, courtesy of a 34th minute goal by Aussie striker Scott Tunbridge.
Ross County 0 Accies 1
Victoria Park, Dingwall
Saturday, 23rd September 2006
Accies had to dig a little deeper than they would have liked to secure a hard-earned victory at sunny Victoria Park. A flurry of late second half pressure from the home side resulted in a couple of chances for headed equalisers and an alarming spot of penalty box pinball on one occasion.
However, in the end it was too little, too late, from struggling County as they paid dearly for their lacklustre first half performance. This match ticked the usual boxes, with Dingwall encounters between the pair usually being tight and single goal victories common. It was a pity the attendance was more than 300 down on last year despite the glorious weather.
The match underlined the fast-changing nature of football in the Bosman age in that only Scott Tunbridge, James McArthur and Paul McLeod played for Accies a year ago, whilst County had only Sean Higgins and Fergus Tiernan starting this time round. Mind you, David Winters did appear briefly for his old team as a late substitute last August!
Accies were the better side in the first half in the first half, in particular, and deservedly led at the break after Scott Tunbridge finished off the impressive Tom Parratt’s brilliantly directed pass around the home defence on 35 minutes.
Richard Offiong was particularly good on the ball throughout and although some of his passing was erratic he sometimes could have done with more support. Despite that, Accies still created a decent number of chances - and near things - from open play. None more so than in the 57th minute when both Offiong and Tunbridge each just failed to tap in a great pass from the right, with the defence nowhere.
In truth, County would probably have been finished off if the referee had been more sympathetic to what looked like a valid penalty claim in the 66th minute. County had by then committed all three substitutes as they sought to win at least a point, enough to see half time sub Michael Gardyne win the man of the match award for his dangerous runs in the second 45.
They certainly made it a nervous last 10 minutes for the away support but Accies defended hard enough enough to secure a vital victory that keeps them just six points behind the leaders with a game in hand.
Ross County: Samson, Niven (Gardyne 46), Robertson, Dowie, Keddie, Tiernan, Gary Irvine, Williams (Caimi 50), Higgins, Cowie, McKinlay (Gunn 65).
Subs Not Used: Malin, Scott.
Booking: Niven, County (39)
Hamilton Accies: Jellema, Parratt, Fleming, Winters (McLeod 85), Elebert, Easton, Tunbridge, McArthur, Offiong (Wake 72), Agnew (Stevenson 66), Gilhaney.
Subs Not Used: McCarthy, White.
Referee: Colin Hardie
Att: 1,925
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