2006-11-18 Partick Thistle

Accies lost ground in the title race when they went down 3-1 to Partick Thistle in an eventful match at Firhill. The star of the show was Thistle striker Mark Roberts with a "perfect" hat trick, while Accies suffered the loss of goalkeeper Raymond Jellema through injury within the first 10 minutes. Accies now drop to third place in the league.

Firhill

Saturday, 18th November 2006

Partick Thistle 3 Hamilton Accies 1

Accies lost ground in the league title race when they went down 3-1 to Partick Thistle at Firhill, for whom striker Mark Roberts scored a hat trick. Manager Billy Reid made a couple of changes to the team that had defeated Airdrie United 7 days earlier, with Omar Rezgane returning from suspension in place of Tony Stevenson and Tom Parratt coming back in at right back. Captain Marvyn Wilson missed out due to a rib injury picked up against Airdrie.

Accies started the game pretty well and took the game to the hosts from the start. Their possession and passing was good but after just 6 minutes the home team scored with their first attack of the game. Alex Neil was dispossessed in midfield by Simon Donnelly and Mark Roberts' pass through the inside left channel gave Adam Strachan the chance to run through on goal. Raymond Jellema came rushing out to block and dived at the Thistle player's feet. Strachan went flying and in the process caught Jelly in the face with his boot. Referee Winter gave the spot kick and yellow carded the Accies goalkeeper but Jellema had to be replaced because of the kick he had received. This led to a three minute delay for his treatment and for Dave McEwan to take his place for his first action since early in the season. Sadly, his first action was to retrieve the ball from the net after Mark Roberts had cracked it high past him and into the top corner.

The goal was against the run of play but Accies were not too disheartened by it and continued to play well. However, although Accies had a lot of the ball chances were few and far between. They did cause panic in the Jags defence a few times but Kenny Arthur wasn't too troubled. Things got much worse for Accies in the 38th minute when Partick doubled their lead. A long through ball from Paddy Keogh was missed by Brian Easton, who slipped at precisely the wrong moment. Darren Brady ran through on goal but was upended by Dave McEwan. This looked more like a penalty but for for some reason the referee didn't show McEwan a yellow card. Roberts took the kick again and hit it in the same place as the first one; this time McEwan got a firm hand to the ball and deflected it over the top.

It was a fine save but it only delayed the second goal for a few moments. The corner kick was swung in by Simon Donnelly and it was Mark Roberts who rose above the Accies defence to head in at the near post. That was a real sickener for Accies and Billy Reid decided to make an immediate change with teenager James McCarthy replaced by Brian Wake. This gave the Accies front line a bit more muscle but they were unable to retrieve anything before the interval.

The half time team talk clearly did its job and Accies wasted no time in taking the game to Partick after the break. Accies pulled a goal back just after the interval when Paul McLeod fired in a low cross that ran straight across Kenny Arthur and into the net at the far side. Accies had their best spell of the game after this, with David Elebert having a netbound header cleared off the line and Kenny Arthur making an excellent save from a Paul McLeod volley that was destined for the top corner.

It seemed only a matter of time before Accies would get the equaliser their play deserved, but unfortunately it was the home team who grabbed the vita final goal. Accies had committed so many players to attack that the midfield was looking a bit thin and Mark Roberts did well to control a pass before firing it low past David McEwan. It was no coincidence that the goal came when James McArthur, who had been excellent in the heart of things, was still limping after receiving a crunching tackle from a Jags player. That was the game over as a contest. Billy Reid made his final change with Scott Agnew replacing David Winters for the final quarter of the game. It was Scott's first taste of action after a long spell on the bench and he did pretty well on the left side of the park.

So it was a disappointing result for Accies and although they were the better team for long spells of the game you can't argue with the final result. The home side were just that bit more clinical in front of goal and in Roberts had the game's outstanding player. Best for the hoops were Rezgane and Easton at the back and McLeod and McArthur in midfield. After being just a bit fortuitous against Airdrie United, this was a game where Accies just had no luck.

After the game, Billy Reid said, "To be 2-0 down at half time wasn't a fair reflection and we thought if we got a goal back we could do something. we did get one back and then battered them but after they scored the third they were deserved winners."

Partick Thistle: Arthur, Campbell (Billy Gibson 58), Keogh, Boyd, James Gibson, Brady, Donnelly, McCulloch, Strachan (Graham Gibson 70), Young (McConalogue 82), Roberts. Subs Not Used: Ferguson, Tuffey.

Booked: Boyd, James Gibson. Goals: Roberts 9 pen, 38, 67.

Hamilton Accies: Jellema (McEwan 8), Parratt, Rezgane, Elebert, Easton, McCarthy (Wake 38), McLeod, McArthur, Neil, Offiong, Winters (Agnew 67). Subs Not Used: Stevenson, Gibson.

Booked: Jellema, Parratt. Goal: Keogh 48 og.

Att: 2,797

Ref: B Winter

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