Accies 0 Brechin City 0: Scottish Cup Round 4

Accies' poor run of form at New Douglas Park continued when they were held to a goalless draw by second division side Brechin City. The match will be replayed at Glebe Park on Tuesday 22nd January at 7.45 pm. the winner of that match will visit the winners of the replay between Falkirk and Aberdeen in the 5th round. James Gibson was named as the man of the match for a fine performance at left back.

Hamilton Accies 0 Brechin City 0

Scottish Cup Round 4

New Douglas Park, Hamilton

Saturday 12 January 2008

Accies face a tricky replay at Glebe Park on Tuesday 22nd January after failing to take care of second division side Brechin City at New Douglas Park. Manager Billy Reid made several changes to his side, with regulars Richard Offiong, Mark McLaughlin, Alex Neil and Brian Easton all being rested. Their places were taken by Gary Twigg, Chris Swailes, Tony Stevenson and James Gibson.

Accies got off to a cracking start and created several decent chances in the opening 10 minutes. The best of these were shots by Gary Twigg in the first minute and a shot by James McArthur, but veteran Craig Nelson was in excellent form in the visitor's goal and he made good saves to keep Accies out. As with a few games recently, the best chances seemed to be falling to James McArthur and he was in the right place to meet a great cross from the right from Tom Parratt. James got his header on target, but it did not have the power to beat Nelson. Accies were playing well, with James McCarthy always eager to get forward but their "achilles heel" of poor finishing let them down. Tom Parratt put in a very good shift at right back and hit a couple of dangerous crosses into the area.

Accies had the ball in the net when Gary Twigg headed home a cross from Mark Gilhaney on the left, but the goal was ruled out for offside. Brechin were being pegged back much of the time, but they did have the occasional attack that caused Accies some concern. The best attempt was a powerful shot by Kevin Byers from just outside the area that Tomas Cerny had to dive full length to block. James McCarthy showed his talent yet again with a surging run into the area but his finish lacked power. Brechin had a couple of players booked by referee Nicholls in the first half, with Charlie King getting into trouble for dissent and Scott Walker being cautioned for a bad tackle on Gary Twigg.

The visitors seemed to gain in confidence after the interval but there was to be a very controversial moment midway through the half when Accies had a goal disallowed. James McArthur hit a pass through the Brechin defence, with Mark Gilhaney clearly in an offside position. James McCarthy was clearly not offside however and referee Stevie Nicholls waved play on despite his assistant having raised his flag. Young James proceeded to round the goalkeeper, put the ball in the net and then celebrate with his teammates as the referee awarded the goal. However, the Brechin players protested and the referee, after consultation with his assistant decided to rule it out. There were no great protests from the Accies camp and television pictures confirmed the suspicion that Mark Gilhaney had interfered with play by tackling the last Brechin defender.

Accies came even closer to scoring with a Gary Twigg back post header that looked mighty close to having crossed the line but it was not given. Billy Reid made a few changes, with Mark Gilhaney, Tony Stevenson and Gary Twigg being replaced by David Winters, Alex Neil and Xavier Barrau. They absolutely dominated the possession but still good chances were thin on the ground. The visitors picked more yellow cards as they were on the back foot for so much of the game. First of all, David Murie was perhaps fortunate just to receive a yellow card for a late tackle on Mark Gilhaney and then Richard Walker was cautioned for pulling back David Winters just outside the penalty area. The free kick from James Gibson thudded into the wall and was cleared.

Brechin gained in confidence as the game progressed and they created some good chances themselves. the best of these came when Darren Smith broke through and only had Tomas Cerny to beat. Happily for Accies, however, he skied his shot. As the game drew to a close, Calum Smith had a fantastic chance to beat Tomas Cerny at his near post but sliced the ball into the side net. Right at the end, the final chance for Accies fell to James Gibson, but the teenager was unable to repeat his midweek form ( he scored a hat-trick for the under 19 side) and his volley went over the top.

So it was another frustrating day for Accies and they now have a midweek trip to Brechin that they could do without. James Gibson was given the man of the match award but he was not the only one who played well in this game. It was just that the cutting edge was not there.

Hamilton: Cerny, Parratt, Gibson, McCarthy, Elebert, Swailes, Graham, McArthur, Twigg (Barrau 82), Stevenson (Neil 69), Gilhaney (Winters 66). Subs Not Used: Easton, Halliwell.

Booked: Neil, Barrau.

Brechin: Craig Nelson, Murie (Richard Walker 74), Stuart Callaghan, White, Scott Walker, Adam Nelson, Fusco, Byers, Calum Smith, King, Darren Smith. Subs Not Used: Ward, Janczyk, Barry Callaghan, McCluskey.

Booked: King, Scott Walker, Murie, Richard Walker.

Att: 1,023

Ref: S Nicholls

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