2007-08-28 Berwick Rangers

Accies moved into the third round of the CIS Cup with an entertaining 3-2 win down at Shielfield on Tuesday night. Brian Wake was the man of the match, with two fine second half goals.

Berwick Rangers 2 Hamilton Accies 3

Shielfield, Berwick

Tuesday, 28th August 2007

CIS Cup Round 2

Billy Reid made a few changes for this game, with Mark McLaughlin, Brian Easton and Alex Neil being rested. This gave James Gibson, David Winters and Tony Stevenson a chance to show what they could do. On a great night for football and on the good surface at Shielfield, Accies dominated the early stages without creating many clear cut chances. However, the home side were to grab an unexpected lead after just 10 minutes with their first attack of the game.

Chris Swailes was punished for an illegal aerial challenge on a Berwick player. With the Accies defence caught on the hop, one of the home players slid the ball quickly through to striker Iain Diack and he beat Bryn Halliwell from 15 yards. This raised the sprits of the Berwick players but they were not to enjoy their lead for long. Just five minutes later, Accies won a corner kick on the right hand side and Tony Stevenson's kick was headed goalwards by the unmarked Chris Swailes. David Winters made a neat job of nodding the ball home from close range. Accies were in decent form for most of the half but the majority of their shots were off target. The home side created another good opportunity just before the break when a well hit direct free kick was deflected over the bar by the defensive wall. The resulting corner was headed just over the top.

Accies had made two changes before the break, with Richard Offiong being replaced by Brian Wake and Alex Neil coming on for the injured Tony Stevenson. Practically the first thing that Neil did was to have his name taken along with a Berwick player for what appeared to be no more than a minor altercation.

If the home side had threatened occasionally in the first half, they were practically swamped by Accies after the interval. Mark Gilhaney gave the Berwick defence a torrid time but still the chances were passed up. Eventually, a goal had to come and it was a well deserved counter by big Brian Wake ten minutes after half time. Moments after missing a good opportunity, he ran onto a good through ball before switching to his left foot, beating a defender and then curling the ball past the Berwick goalkeeper. It was a goal that oozed class from the big man. The Accies fans started to relax and look forwards to a few more goals but their happiness was to be short lived.

The Berwick equaliser after 65 minutes was really bizarre, with one of their forwards shooting past Halliwell, only for the ball to fizz back off the post. It came to Tom Parratt just a few yards out. Unfortunately for Tom, his attempt to thump the ball clear only resulted in the ball flying into the roof of the net for a spectacular own goal. Accies were not to be denied, however, and they went back up the park again where James McCarthy was very unlucky to see his blistering shot rebound from the post with the goalkeeper beaten. Next to try his luck was David Winters, who latched onto a loose ball after the Berwick goalkeeper had beaten Brian Wake to a long through ball. Winters' shot from near the touchline beat the goalkeeper but the curl of his shot carried it past the far post.

Big Brian Wake was having a good night and he scored what proved to be the winner with 15 minutes remaining. David Winters set the goal up with a skillful run into the area and the ball broke kindly for Brian, who cracked it into the net from 10 yards. He came close to grabbing his first Accies hat trick near the end when James McCarthy unselfishly rolled the ball into his path just a few yards from goal. Unfortunately, McCarthy overhit the square pass and the chance was lost. Right at the very end of the game, a final Berwick corner kick came to nothing and the ball was cleared to James McCarthy 30 yards from goal. With only a Berwick defender on the half way line (the goalkeeper having come up for he corner) and David Winters staying onside a fourth goal looked to be a formality. However, the chance was lost due to the final whistle.

Brian Wake won the sponsors bottle of champagne but there were several other good performances from the Accies team. This was a well deserved win and it was good for David Winters and especially Brian Wake to get amongst the goals.

Berwick: O'Connor, Noble, Horn, Smith, Bolochoweckyj, Greenhill (Gemmill 70), McLeish, Diack, Wood, Swanson (Thomson 85), Lennox (McMullan 80).

Subs Not Used: Stevenson, Flockhart.

Booked: Swanson.

Goals: Diack 10, Parratt 65 og.

Hamilton: McArthur, Halliwell, Parratt, Gibson, Swailes, Elebert, Stevenson (Neil 39), McCarthy, Offiong (Wake 33), Winters, Gilhaney (McLeod 88).

Subs Not Used: Easton, Cerny.

Booked: Neil.

Goals: Winters 15, Wake 55, 75.

Att: 402

Ref: D Somers

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