Accies finished the season on Saturday with a 1-1 draw up at Dens Park. The young Accies team, featuring debutants Gary Gow and Grant Gillespie, took the lead midway through the first half with a well taken goal by Andy Waterworth, his first for the club.
A further three points looked on the cards for Accies until Colin McMenamin headed past substitute Brian Potter right at the end of the game to give Dundee the point they just about deserved. 'Keeper Tomas Cerny, injured on the hour mark and stretchered off, is fine. 16 year old Jordan Kirkpatrick became the fourth Accies man to make his debut in the second half.
Dundee 1 Hamilton Accies 1
Dens Park, Dundee
Saturday, 26th April 2008
Irn Bru League Division 1
In terms of the football, this game was always going to be a bit flat. The game had been touted all season as a potential league decider and it appeared that Dundee had sold plenty of hospitality packages on that basis. However, with Accies having sewn things up a week early, there was to be no party for the Dens Park faithful. Instead, it was the Accies fans who brought the noise, the balloons and the air of festivity to this final match of the season.
Accies manager Billy Reid decided to give some of the youngsters a game, so teenagers Grant Gillespie and Gary Gow started the game, with Jordan Kirkpatrick on the bench. This meant that Richard Offiong, Alex Neil, Mark McLaughlin and James McArthur were able to sit in the sunshine and have a wee blether instead of taking part. Andrew Waterworth made his first start for the hoops while Mark Gilhaney became a father for the first time on Friday night and was given the day off. In recognition of his fine career and contribution to Accies' success this season, veteran defender Chris Swailes was made the captain for the day. The home side's injury crisis meant that former Accies player Michael White was in goal, while future Accies player Derek Lyle was on the bench. Prior to the game, the Dundee players formed a "guard of honour" to welcome the champions onto the pitch, although it was clear that most of them were not very enthusiastic about it.
This attitude became clear as the game began and two of the Dundee men were yellow carded for bad fouls in the opening10 minutes. First of all it was Scott Robertson who was cautioned for an over zealous challenge on James McCarthy but then worse was to follow when Colin McMenamin was booked for a late tackle on Accies 'keeper Tomas Cerny. Tomas was able to continue after treatment but it is interesting to note that McMenamin was also cautioned for a similar challenge on Cerny when Accies defeated Dundee at New Douglas Park in March.
In amongst all the this, there was some football being played with Accies clearly having the better of the first half. Newcomers Gow and Gillespie settled into the game pretty well but it was Andy Waterworth was the main thorn in Dundee's side. He had enough pace to have the beating of the Dundee defence and was unlucky when after a good run, his left footed shot was well saved by Michael White. Andy was not to be denied however, and he opened his Accies account in the 34th minute with a well taken goal, thrashing the ball home from close range after good work by Gary Gow.
A few minutes later and it was Paul Dixon's turn for his name to go into the referee's notebook. This time it was for a completely unnecessary but hefty foul on James McCarthy right on the touchline. A couple of minutes later, Dixon was replaced by Freddie Daquin and went straight up the tunnel. Manager Alex Rae later said that this move was for purely "tactical" reasons. Just before the break there was a bizarre incident, when a clearance from a Dundee man flicked off Andy Waterworth before thumping against the assistant referee about 30 yards from the goal. The ball bounced off the official and went out of play over the goalline. To the astonishment of everyone watching, the assistant gave a goal kick because he had been at the very edge of the pitch and the ball had not gone out of play before it hit him.
Accies did have the bulk of the possession in the first half, but things changed a bit after the interval with Dundee getting more involved. Alex Rae made another change at half time, with Paul McHale replacing Gary MacKenzie. Not long after the interval, Billy Reid decided it was time to blood another youngster, with 16 year old Jordan Kirkpatrick replacing Gary Gow. Young Gary got a good reception from the Accies fans behind the goal and had a decent debut. The next major incident came after 59 minutes when Tomas Cerny was kicked in the face after making a brave save to prevent a certain goal. He was stretchered off after treatment, with coach Brian Potter taking his place and making his first senior appearance for four years. Sadly, some of the Dundee fans behind the goal appeared to take pleasure in Tomas's misfortune but he did not require hospital treatment.
Dundee were pinning Accies back for spells in the half but Accies did have a couple of promising counter attacks. One ended with Jordan Kirkpatrick shooting wide from a decent position and it would have been brilliant if he had been able to score the goal that would have ended the game as a contest. Interestingly, when Alex Rae used his final change it became clear that Derek Lyle would not have the opportunity to play any part in the game and say his farewells to the Dundee fans. He ran to the tunnel with the Accies fans singing his name, which was all a bit surreal.
Tom Parratt had replaced Grant Gillespie by this time and it was good to see him back in action. There was more excitement for Accies when Michael White was yellow carded for catching the ball well outside the penalty area. It wasn't a red card offence because it didn't prevent a clear goalscoring opportunity, but it must have been a borderline decision. Ironically, the youngster had just been named as the man of the match by the local sponsors.
As the game drew to a close, the Accies fans ere still in fine voice and really enjoying themselves. With the 90 minutes having been played and the fans singing, "You're only 10 points behind us", Colin McMenamin headed home a deep cross at the back post to earn his side a draw. The song quickly changed to "You're only 7 points behind us", although some of the mathematically challenged members of the choir thought that the margin of the lead was now 8 points!
So it was a good workout for the young Accies team in the Dundee sunshine and great to see three young players and one veteran make their Accies debuts. Best in the hoops were probably Andy Waterworth and Simon Mensing, although there were no failures in the team. It was particularly gratifying to see Chris Swailes end his professional career in style and there was a nice touch when the team bus arrived home and he was given an ovation by the entire party as he went down the steps.
Oh, and the fans sang almost throughout the entire game. They really enjoyed themselves and will cherish this day and the entire season for a long time to come. There was a great gesture from Ronnie MacDonald before the game when he went to the Accies fans to hand out signed balls to loads of the younger fans. In fact, when he realised that he needed a couple more he went back inside the arrange for more to be done on the spot.
This is a good club to support.
Onwards and upwards.
Dundee: White, Cowan, MacKenzie (McHale 46), Malone, Dixon (Daquin 43), O'Brien, Robertson (Noubissie 71), McDonald, Swankie, McMenamin, Antoine-Curier. Subs Not Used: A Trialist, Lyle.
Booked: Robertson, McMenamin, Dixon, White.
Goals: McMenamin 90.
Hamilton: Cerny (Potter 59), Stevenson, Easton, Elebert, Swailes, Gibson, McCarthy, Mensing, Gillespie (Parratt 67), Waterworth, Gow (Kirkpatrick 52). Subs Not Used: Graham, Taylor.
Goals: Waterworth 38
Att: 3,146
Ref: I Brines
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