Accies moved back up to 3rd place in the league when they defeated Partick Thistle 2-0 at Firhill on Saturday. Tony Stevenson opened the scoring from the penalty spot just after half time and a goal by defender David Elebert near the end sealed the win. Richard Offiong of Accies and Paddy Keogh of Thistle were red carded shortly before half time.
Partick Thistle 0 Hamilton Accies 2
Firhill Stadium, Glasgow
Saturday, 17th March 2007
Accies climbed back up to 3rd spot in the league with this victory at rain and wind lashed Firhill. With Accies having lost two games on the road within the last week, Billy Reid made six changes to the team that had played up at Dingwall. Tom Parratt returned in place of Marvyn Wilson after missing the game at Dingwall through suspension and James Gibson replaced the injured Derek Fleming in defence. There were also starting places for Chris Swailes, James McCarthy and Paul McLeod. Also missing from midweek were Alex Neil through suspension plus Jamie McClen, Mark Gilhaney and David Winters. Billy Reid had to make an early change with Chris Swailes being replaced by Marvyn Wilson as early as the 13th minute.
Accies did not have the best of things in the first half as Thistle sought to capitalise on their fine midweek win against St Johnstone. Their best effort came when Sam Morrow headed a Mark Roberts corner against the crossbar. Accies found it hard to get forward in the poor conditions but Richard Offiong was being a real handful for the home defence. David Elebert came to the rescue for Accies when he made a goalline clearance from a header by Pat Keogh.
The game was to take a major turn in the 37th minute when Richard Offiong and Pat Keogh were ordered off. There were claims that the Jags defender had trampled on Offiong, who squared up to him. The red card for Offiong was pretty clear but Partick have managed to get referee Stuart Dougal to agree that he will review the red card for Keogh when the club video is made available to him. The loss of Keogh was to prove to be very bad news as far as Thistle were concerned and their defensive uncertainty nearly let Accies in just before the break but Brian Easton's shot went wide of the target.
If the home side had had the better of things before the break, it was Accies who dominated the second period. Accies went in front just a few minutes after half time when Tony Stevenson maintained his 100% record from the spot after James Gibson was tripped by Craig Sives. All was not lost for Thistle, however, when they were awarded a very soft penalty for an apparent foul on Mark Roberts. After a lengthy delay, with the referee warning the players about encroachment and the wind blowing the ball off the spot, Roberts' insipid kick was saved by Sean Murdoch.
The Jags didn't have much to offer after this as the Accies defence coped admirably with everything that was thrown at them. Billy Reid made a double change on the hour, with James McCarthy and Paul McLeod being replaced by Brian Wake and Mark Gilhaney. Accies extended their lead after 84 minutes with a fine shot by defender David Elebert and this led to a mass exodus of the Thistle support. Mark Gilhaney had a couple of good chances to increase the lead even further but he couldn't beat John Tuffey in the home goal.
Accies held on to claim the well deserved three points that put them up to 3rd place in the table. However, Richard Offiong's red card means that he will have to kick his heels in the stands for just a bit longer.
Partick: Tuffey, Sives (Hodge 82), Keogh, McChrystale (Boyd 25), John Robertson, Young, Brady, Ferguson, Strachan (McConalogue 66), Roberts, Morrow.
Subs Not Used: Kane, Arthur.
Sent Off: Keogh (37). Booked: Brady.
Hamilton: Murdoch, Parratt, Gibson, Swailes (Wilson 13), Elebert, Easton, Stevenson, McArthur, McCarthy (Gilhaney 61), Offiong, McLeod (Wake 61).
Subs Not Used: Winters, Jellema.
Sent Off: Offiong (37). Booked: McCarthy, Wilson, Parratt.
Goals: Stevenson 47 pen, Elebert 84.
Att: 2,178
Ref: S Dougal
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