Queen of The South 2 Accies 2

Accies came from a goal behind to grab a well deserved point from this thrilling match at Palmerston. Accies took the lead with James Grady's first goal for the club after 22 minutes, but a quick double by Stephen Dobbie gave the home side the lead at the interval. The second half was like the siege of the Alamo, with the Doonhamers defence standing up to wave after wave of Accies attacks, but all the hard work bore fruit when James McCarthy netted from close range in the final minute.

Dundee's last gasp win over St Johnstone means that the gap at the top has closed to just two points.

Queen of the South 2 Hamilton Accies 2

Palmerston Park, Dumfries

Saturday, 1st March 2008

Irn Bru League Division 1

Billy Reid had to make an enforced change for this game, with skipper Alex Neil starting a two match suspension. This meant that James Grady started the game for the first time. David Elebert shrugged off the injury that has been bothering him and was able to take his usual place in the team. Tomas Cerny kept his place in goals, with Bryn Halliwell on the bench alongside Andrew Waterworth, who had recovered from his bout of tonsillitis.

Accies got off to a decent start but it was the home side who came closest to scoring early on when Cerny did well to tip a netbound shot from long range around the post. Queens had a good deal of the ball in the opening quarter of the game so it was slightly against the run of play when Accies took the lead after 21 minutes, with James Grady firing home a loose ball from about 15 yards.

This had the unfortunate effect of stirring the home side into greater efforts and they equalised just 8 minutes later. Mark McLaughlin was harshly judged to have fouled a Queens' player 25 yards from goal. The free kick was well struck, albeit directly at the well positioned Tomas Cerny. Tomas elected to punch the ball rather than catch it and it fell perfectly for the inrushing Stephen Dobbie. He reacted quickly to knock the ball in via the post to make it 1-1. Worse was to follow for Accies just six minutes later. This time it was a long free kick from Jamie McQuilken that was headed on by the impressive Sean O'Connor and Dobbie headed home from close range.

Accies had a couple of "half-chances" to restore parity before the interval; the best of these was a free header for Richard Offiong from just 6 yards out that he floated over the top. Shortly before the break, James McArthur was cautioned for a trip in midfield and immediately berated Simon Mensing for his part in the loss of possession. Mensing was not at all impressed and a wee bit of pushing and shoving went on before the referee intervened. So the home side were ahead at the break and few could argue that they deserved their lead.

Billy Reid clearly had a few choice words to say to the team at the break; when they came out they were really fired up. The second half wasn't all one way traffic, but the huge majority of the attacking play came from Accies. They were nearly caught out shortly after half time when a poor defensive header was hit through the Accies defence for Stephen Dobbie to run onto. The Queens' striker had probably already thought of where to keep his match ball, but his low shot was well blocked by Cerny.

However, the balance of play in the second period was certainly with Accies and they created quite a few decent chances. The unfortunate thing was that they had this bad habit of squandering the chances that came along, or watching as Jamie MacDonald had an inspired game in the home goal. His best save was from a Simon Mensing header from a corner kick late in the game, but before that Accies had managed to miss the target on many occasions. James Grady had two good chances, with one shot from inside the area being fired high over the top and on the other occasion he failed to reach a great cross from Richard Offiong right in front of goal.

David Graham had an excellent game, particularly in the second half, and he linked well with James McArthur and Richard Offiong in particular. As the game wore on, dangerous crosses from Tony Stevenson were being headed over their own crossbar by relieved Doonhamer defenders and David Elebert's long throw-ins were causing real concern. Tony had a good effort from a direct free kick that went just wide of the target with MacDonald stranded. Billy Reid made his changes, with Andrew Waterworth, Mark Gilhaney and James McCarthy replacing James Grady, Tony Stevenson and Simon Mensing. Of these players, Waterworth looked the most likely to make an impact as he jinked past a couple of defenders inside the area before his low shot was blocked.

Just as it looked like Accies were going to leave Palmerston empty handed for the second time this season, they grabbed a very late equaliser. It wasn't a great goal by any means but it may prove to be hugely valuable. It came from a ball that was crossed into the far post, where James McCarthy controlled it before slipping it past MacDonald. Accies grabbed the ball to get the game going again, but shortly after the restart referee Chris Boyle halted play to show a second yellow and a red card to experienced Queen's midfielder Steve Tosh. Tosh's face was contorted with rage as he shouted at Boyle and he had to be restrained by other players before leaving the pitch.

That was the end of the meaningful action but it appeared that if the game had run on for a few minutes longer then Accies might have grabbed a winner. However, it was not to be and Accies left with the single point that they more than deserved on the balance of play.

Queen of the South: MacDonald, McCann, McQuilken, Aitken, Reid, MacFarlane, O'Neill, Tosh, O'Connor, Dobbie (Stewart 80), Burns. Subs Not Used: Grindlay, Paton, Lauchlan, Gilmour.

Sent Off: Tosh (90).

Booked: MacFarlane, Tosh, McCann, Aitken.

Goals: Dobbie 29, 35.

Hamilton Accies: Cerny, Stevenson (Gilhaney 77), Swailes, Easton, Elebert, McLaughlin, Graham, McArthur, Offiong, Mensing (McCarthy 79), Grady (Waterworth 73). Subs Not Used: Halliwell, Gibson.

Booked: McArthur.

Goals: Grady 21, McCarthy 89.

Att: 2,133

Ref: C Boyle

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