Accies climbed up to third place in the league on Saturday following a disappointing goalless draw against Ross County at windswept New Douglas Park. Accies were the dominant team for long spells of the game but were unable to break the deadlock. There was a controversial moment in the second half when Paul McLeod appeared to be fouled inside the area, but the referee waved away Accies' claims for a spot kick. Brian Easton, who has been a revelation in the heart of the defence this season, was injured before the interval and had to be replaced.
New Douglas Park
Saturday, 25th November 2006
Hamilton Accies 0 Ross County 0
The big news going into this game was that Accies' injury curse had struck again. This time it was top scorer Richard Offiong who was added to the long list of unavailable players because of a knee injury picked up in training. In addition, James McArthur had been hurt during the Partick Thistle game and was listed as a substitute. Omar Rezgane joined him on the bench, which meant that youngster James Gibson made his first starting appearance at left back, with Brian Easton switching to a central defensive role alongside David Elebert.
Accies started the game attacking the Whitehill end and it took them a wee while to settle.
County played some decent football in the first half and fired some dangerous crosses into the area but were never able to capitalise on their opportunities. As the half developed, Accies started to take charge with their best efforts being shots from the edge of the area from James McCarthy and Tom Parratt but neither of them were able to get past Craig Samson. Paul McLeod had a good headed opportunity from close range but he only managed to put the ball past the post.
After 37 minutes Accies suffered a real blow when 18 year old defender Brian Easton, who has had a magnificent first season for Accies, limped off the park with an injury. He was replaced by James McArthur, with Tony Stevenson moving to partner Elebert at the back. As half time approached David Winters took advantage of a stumble by a County defender to crack the ball past Samson, but the Accies fans celebrations were short lived as the goal was disallowed for a foul by Winters. That was a real blow for Winters in particular as he had a good first half and was very keen to make an impression against his old team.
The game's most controversial incident occurred not long after the break when Paul McLeod, who had an outstanding game, beat a couple of players on the right wing before racing into the area. He appeared to be tripped by a County defender, but the Accies management and fans were stunned when the referee decided not to award the penalty kick. Accies tried to develop some kind of attacking rhythm but the game was interrupted too often by niggly fouls and at times the game was not too pretty to watch.
Billy Reid made his second change of the game after the hour, with Scott Agnew replacing James McCarthy. The youngster had done fairly well yet again but had faded out of the game a bit. Agnew took up a left sided role and did reasonably well in a rare outing in the top team.
A couple of decent chances were created, the best of them falling to David Winters. However, he lashed the ball into the side net from a tight angle when he probably should have cut it back across the goal and the opportunity was lost. Accies spent the bulk of the half trying to grab that vital opening goal but, as the rain lashed down and the wind howled, it never came. County had their best opportunity when one of their players took a quick free kick when Raymond Jellema was lining up his wall, but the wall did it's job and the chance was squandered.
County brought on big striker Amick Ciani with 20 minutes to go but the visitors were still unable to make much impact on the excellent Accies defence, for whom Elebert and Stevenson played probably their best games for Accies. It says a lot for guys like these plus Brian Easton, that the departure of the experienced Steven Thomson has not been detrimental to Accies performances this season.
Near the end, substitute Ciani was perhaps fortunate to remain on the park when he made a late challenge on James Gibson after the ball had been played. The youngster needed his second bout of treatment from Avril Downs during the game but was able to continue. As Accies pressed there was an odd moment when there were two balls on the pitch at the same time. Even though the wrong ball rolled within a couple of feet of the real one during open play, the referee opted to allow the game to continue. The wrong ball came to a County player near the touchline and instead of tapping it out of play he opted to thump it across the pitch, clearly expressing his thoughts about the game being allowed to carry on.
Accies pressed to the end but there were to be no goals. Accies did climb back up to 3rd position in the table but this was certainly a case of two points lost rather than one being gained. With McLaughlin, Fleming, Wilson, Gilhaney and Offiong in the team, this would not have been a goalless draw! However, that's not to detract from the young team Accies used in this game. They did really well and the prospects for the future of the club are undeniable.
Hamilton Academical: Jellema, Parratt, Gibson, Stevenson, Elebert, Easton (McArthur 37), McLeod, McCarthy (Agnew 58), Wake, Neil, Winters. Subs Not Used: Rezgane, Coult, McEwan.
Ross County: Samson, Gary Irvine, Keddie, Dowie (Hooks 77), McKinlay, Gunn, Gardyn (Ciani 70), Adams, Crooks, Scott, Robertson. Subs Not Used: McCulloch, Moore, Malin.
Booked: Gunn, Ciani.
Att: 1,180
Ref: A Muir
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