Accies blew the chance to claim third spot in the league when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Clyde at New Douglas Park. After a frustrating first half in which several clear cut chances were missed, David Winters (left) opened the scoring for Accies with a sublime free kick from the edge of the area after 75 minutes. Ten minutes later, however, Clyde scrambled home an equaliser.
Hamilton Accies 1 Clyde 1
New Douglas Park
Saturday, 30th December 2006
Accies let two more vital points slip between their fingers when they drew this game with Clyde at New Douglas Park. Manager Billy Reid was forced to make a couple of changes, with both Richard Offiong and Paul McLeod having been injured at Raydale 7 days earlier. This meant that Mark Gilhaney and David Winters were restored to the starting lineup. Clyde were able to field close to their strongest team.
That Accies didn't win this game was down to the chances that were missed in the first half. On no fewer han three occasions, they had a man bearing down on the goalkeeper but only once was Hutton forced into making a save. The Clyde defence was caught napping by Accies three times in close succession with Brian Wake, David Winters and Mark Gilhaney all missing out. Brian Wake was first to break clear, but he was caught by the Clyde defence as he reached the penalty area and lost his footing at the vital moment. A couple of minutes later it was David Winters who was able to cut in from the right hand side. Winters fired in a thundering shot from 15 yards but the goalkeeper made a excellent save to turn the ball around the post.
The other clear chance that came to Accies came to Mark Gilhaney, who eluded the Clyde defence and had a clear sight of Hutton's goal. Wee Mark hit the shot perhaps a bit earlier than necessary and the ball went a couple of feet over the top. Accies created a couple of other chances in the first half, with Brian Wake unable to get a decent header onto a deflected Tom Parratt free kick and the ball went just past the post. Brian Easton was keen to get involved in a forward role too and made one surging run that carried him through the Clyde midfield. With David Winters running offside, he slipped the ball wide to Mark Gilhaney but perhaps over hit it just a fraction. Gilhaney couldn't shoot but crossed the ball back into the middle where Easton was unable to get enough purchase on it to threaten the goal.
It was just one of those spells of football where Accies were well on top and creating chances; they were just unable to take any of them. Clyde were being largely outplayed, with Alex Neil having command of the midfield. They did manage to fire in a couple of shots but Dave McEwan's goal was not seriously threatened.
There's always a danger that teams can lose momentum during the half time break and that seemed to be the case in this match. Perhaps it was more a case of Clyde realising where their faults lay and making some changes. In any event, the visitors came into the game much more after the break, although the young Accies defence were able to keep their scoring attempts down to a minimum. Tom Parratt was on the receiving end of a late tackle on the far touchline by Dougie Imrie and a couple of minutes later pulled up after being outsprinted by the Clyde man. Parratt was scarcely able to walk as he was helped around the track by Avril Downs and an ambulance man and the injury appeared to be a bad one. James McCarthy, linked in an English newspaper with a move to Liverpool, came into the midfield, with Marvyn Wilson moving to the right back slot.
Clyde were a much more dangerous team now and David Elebert was yellow carded for a foul on one of their forwards as he ran through the Accies half. Referee Thomson waited for Elebert to rise to his feet after lengthy treatment before brandishing the yellow card and the big Irishman was only able to play for a minute or two before being replaced by Tony Stevenson. Kevin Sharp almost presented Clyde with a goal with a careless passback to Dave McEwan. He didn't notice that a Clyde forward had cut off the passback route and McEwan was forced to make an excellent save.
The goal that Accies craved finally arrived after 74 minutes and it was the result of firstly smart thinking by Mark Gilhaney and then a brilliant piece of skill by David Winters. After an Accies player was fouled 40 yards out, Gilhaney caught the Clyde defence flat footed with a quick pass to Winters. As Winters reached the Clyde penalty area, he was fouled by McGregor, who was correctly yellow carded by the referee. The free kick was awarded just a foot or so outside the area, more or less on the corner of the box. David Winters stepped forward to curl a superb free kick over the wall and in off the underside of the crossbar.
Unfortunately, as has happened so often this season, Accies were unable to protect or extend their lead. With Clyde having a throw in near the Accies goalline, David Winters was replaced by young David Dimilta, making his debut. No sooner was the youngster on the pitch than the long throw in was diverted into the corner of the net by Gary Arbuckle. Accies now had 5 minutes to survive and Clyde were the team that came closest to grabbing a winner, with a cross-shot from the wing scraping the post with McEwan beaten. However, there's no doubt that a win for Clyde would have been a travesty.
So it was another disappointing result for Accies and that makes it 7 games without a win. David Winters won the sponsor's man of the match award but Brian Easton and Alex Neil also did well. Billy Reid will be concerned about the new injuries that have been picked up ahead of the visit to Airdrie on Tuesday and it looks like some defensive changes will be needed for that game.
Hamilton: McEwan, Parratt (McCarthy 61), Elebert (Stevenson 68), Easton, Sharp, Winters (Dimilta 83), McArthur, Wilson, Neil, Wake, Gilhaney. Subs Not Used: Gow, Jellema.
Booked: Elebert, McCarthy, Wilson.
Goals: Winters 74.
Clyde: Hutton, McGowan, McGregor, Higgins, McKeown, Williams, O'Donnell (Masterton 77), McHale, Malone, Arbuckle, Imrie. Subs Not Used: Harris, Ferguson, MacLennan, Cherrie.
Booked: McGregor.
Goals: Arbuckle 84.
Att: 1,534
Ref: C Thomson
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