Accies stretched their lead at the top of the league to 4 points with a 2-0 win against Dundee at New Douglas Part. In a tight game, it took Accies until the 83rd minute before an excellent header from Mark McLaughlin gave them the lead. Accies took heart from this and it was no surprise when substitute Paul McLeod netted a fine second goal near the end.
Hamilton Accies 2 Dundee 0
New Douglas Park
Saturday, 6th October 2007
Irn Bru League Division 1
Manager Billy Reid made a couple of changes following the defeat up at McDiarmid Park 7 days earlier. David Elebert was restored to the heart of the defence in place of Chris Swailes, while teenager Tony Stevenson took over from Stuart Taylor in midfield. Skipper Alex Neil was missing again due to injury. There was a surprise in the Dundee lineup, with Motherwell defender Martyn Corrigan starting the first game of his loan spell at right back.
The first half was as tight a game as you can imagine. Dundee enjoyed reasonable possession, but lacked the inspiration to trouble Bryn Halliwell in the Accies goal. The majority of their play relied upon the ball being played towards lanky striker Jan Zemlik, but he got no change from the Elebert and McLaughlin partnership. Gavin Swankie had a couple of attempts from free kicks but one thudded against the wall and the other flew well wide of the target.
Accies had a couple of half hearted penalty appeals for challenges on Mark Gilhaney and Richard Offiong, but referee Dougie McDonald was not impressed. Accies had two excellent attempts on goal just before the break. Firstly, Richard Offiong got a near post flick onto a low Tony Stevenson corner that goalkeeper Craig Samson did very well to save on the line. Accies were to come even closer to breaking the deadlock just before the interval when a low shot from David Elebert hit the base of the post with Samson well beaten. The ball cannoned back off the post and hit Richard Offiong before going wide. One other notable incident in the first half came when Mark Gilhaney beat Martyn Corrigan on the left wing. The on-loan defender brought him down and was cautioned by the referee.
In the early stages of the second period, the tense nature of the game seemed to infect the players and both sides made plenty of mistakes. There was plenty of perspiration but little in the way of inspiration. Having said that, some of Accies neat passing play was a joy to watch but not much of it was happening in areas of the park that would hurt the visitors. For their part, Dundee looked decent in spells but you never felt that a goal was on the cards for either side.
Martyn Corrigan was being given a torrid time by Mark Gilhaney and he brought Mark down just on the edge of the area after being beaten yet again. Referee McDonald decided it wasn't worthy of another yellow card but it must have been close. The free kick was fired low into the area and Richard Offiong tried to shoot for goal. The shot was blocked but Richard stayed down and had to be helped off the pitch with what looked like a groin injury. This brought Brian Wake into the game and, with Stuart Taylor having replaced Tony Stevenson shortly before this, Accies looked to be a much more dangerous team.
However, the game really only came to life in the last 10 minutes. Highly rated Dundee midfielder Kevin McDonald made an excellent run into the Accies penalty area, evading a couple of lunging tackles in the process. A goal seemed certain but his right footed shot went well wide of the target. Accies rebounded from this and took the lead after 83 minutes with an excellent goal.
Accies were awarded a free kick about 25 yards out, right in the middle of the pitch. David Winters took the kick and it looked like he would shoot for goal. However, what he did was to float a brilliant cross to the far post where it was Mark McLaughlin who brought the house down with a bullet header past Samson. Accies had the game by the scruff of the neck now and they went looking for another goal. The clincher arrived near the end when Paul McLeod ran onto a loose ball just outside the area and side footed it past Samson. This followed yet more intricate footwork by Mark Gilhaney. That ended the game as a contest.
This was a hugely important win for Accies and it was also Dundee's first defeat of the season. There were no failures in the Accies team and they all played their part. The match sponsors named David Winters as their man of the match but really the award could have gone to any one of half a dozen players.
Hamilton Accies: Halliwell, Parratt, Easton, McCarthy, Elebert, McLaughlin, Winters (McLeod 87), McArthur, Offiong (Wake 70), Stevenson (Taylor 68), Gilhaney. Subs Not Used: Swailes, Cerny.
Goals: McLaughlin 83, McLeod 90.
Dundee: Samson, Corrigan, Dixon, McDonald, MacKenzie, Palenik (Griffin 56), Daquin, Robertson, Zemlik (Lyle 75), McHale (Davidson 84), Swankie. Subs Not Used: Worrell, Rae.
Booked: Corrigan.
Att: 3,195
Ref: D McDonald
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