Accies progressed into the second round of the CIS Cup when they defeated East Stirlingshire 2-1 at New Douglas Park on Tuesday. After Richard Offiong opened the scoring, Kevin McBride equalised with a penalty for the 'Shire early in the second half. It was left to substitute Paul McLeod to grab the winner with a neat close range finish.
Hamilton Accies 2 East Stirlingshire 1
New Douglas Park
Tuesday, 7th August 2007
CIS Cup Round 1
As expected, manager Billy Reid made several changes for this game. Bryn Halliwell, Chris Swailes, Mark McLaughlin, Stuart Taylor, Mark Gilhaney and Paul McLeod were all left out of the starting lineup. They were replaced by Czech goalkeeper Tomas Cerny, who made his debut, plus Tom Parratt, James McCarthy, Brian Wake, Marc McJimpsey and Kevin Davison.
It has to be stated that the first half was one of the most one-sided contests you are ever likely to see. Accies had almost all of the possession, but lacked the guile to break down the massed ranks of the 'Shire defence. Chances came and went and for a long time it seemed that this was going to be a frustrating night for the Accies fans. The best chances seemed to be falling to Brian Wake, who will undoubtedly feel that he should have scored with a free header right in front of the goal. But it wasn't just Brian whose shooting was off. Most of the team had an attempt on goal in the first half, but the majority of the efforts were either over the top or wide of the target. Such was the domination of the game by the home side that it was a full 15 minutes before new goalkeeper Cerny even had to field a passback.
It was inevitable that Accies would get caught out upfield eventually and Graham McLaren of the East Stirlingshire had a good chance to grab a shock lead when he broke clear down the left wing. He had teammates in good positions in the middle but elected to go for goal himself. Happily for Accies, Cerny did well to save his low shot. A goal had to come and when it arrived it was very simple. Accies had won a succession of corners in the half but most of them had been cleared without any trouble. After half an hour, though, Accies made their pressure count when Richard Offiong rose highest to power a superb header into the unguarded net from a Tom Parratt corner. That Accies led by that goal was down to poor finishing on Accies part but also thanks to Cerny, who had to dive full length to beat away a powerful free kick just before the interval.
Accies had pretty much run the show in the first half but it took them a long time to get going again after the break. Not that the visitors had improved much; it was just poor football from both sides. The game burst into life just before the hour when Alex Neil was penalised (and yellow carded) for fouling tricky winger Mark Mckenzie inside the area. Tomas Cerny did his best, but Kevin McBride's spot kick evaded his grasp and rolled into the net. Accies reacted to this setback by taking charge of the game again but still chances were scorned and shots flew over the top.
Manager Reid made a good double change, with Mark Gilhaney and Paul McLeod replacing Kevin Davison and Brian Wake. James Gibson also came on for Marc McJimpsey. Accies began to assert their dominance again and it was no surprise when they scored what turned out to be the winner with 14 minutes remaining. The goal came from a low cross from Mark Gilhaney on the left which Paul McLeod controlled before prodding it deftly past Darren Hill. The 'Shire goal led a charmed life after this with McLeod passing up three excellent chances to finish the visitors off.
Near the end, substitute Kevin Struthers was sent off by referee Boyle for giving him a mouthful after a foul went Accies way. The game petered out after this and Accies thoroughly deserved the win. Alex Neil was awarded the bottle of champagne from the sponsors. It was a good workout for some of the fringe players but his team's inability to find the target will be a worry to Billy Reid.
Hamilton: Cerny, Parratt, Easton, McCarthy, Elebert, Wake (McLeod), McJimpsey (Gibson), McArthur, Offiong, Neil, Davison (Gilhaney).
Subs Not Used: Taylor, Halliwell.
Booked: Neil.
Goals: Offiong 30, McLeod 76.
East Stirlingshire; Hill, Doyle, Kevin McBride, Moffat, Thywissen, Brownlie, McKenzie, Brand, Savage (Struthers 55), McLaren (Kelly 83), Paul McBride. Subs Not Used: King, Ure, Tony Mitchell.
Booked; Moffat, McLaren Ordered off; Struthers 86
Goals: McBride (pen) 57
Att: 554
Ref: C Boyle
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