Accies slipped to the foot of the league when they lost this game; their fifith consecutive league defeat. Accies had a superb first half and took the lead through Brian Easton, but Kris Boyd equalised from the spot before the break. Second half goals by Boyd and substitute Nacho Novo gave the visitors the points. Despite the result, this was a good performance by Accies in dreadful conditions.
Hamilton Accies 1 Rangers 3
New Douglas Park, Hamilton
Saturday, 25th October 2008
Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League
It was to be the same old story for Accies as they succumbed to their fifth consecutive league defeat. They matched Rangers for most of the game but in the end they conceded a couple of soft goals and the points went elsewhere. Manager Billy Reid made some changes as he looked to stiffen up the midfield and defence. This meant that Trent McClenahan made his first starting appearance at right back. Simon Mensing moved from that slot into his more familiar midfield position. Further forward, 19 year old James Gibson made his first start of the season in midfield and teenager Lucas Akins was a surprise selection ahead of Richard Offiong up front.
The bulk of the game was played in howling wind and pouring rain and this certainly made it difficult for the players to play their passes with a great deal of confidence. The early play from Accies was like night and day in comparison with their display a few weeks earlier against Celtic. they passed the ball around on the deck with confidence and although it was evident that Rangers had some classy players in their team, it would not have been immediately obvious which was the more expensively assembled side. Accies had the best early chance, which came when Simon Mensing headed an Alex Neil corner kick against Allan McGregor's crossbar from close range.
The respite for Rangers was to be brief as Accies grabbed the lead after 26 minutes thanks to only the second senior goal of Brian Easton's career. James Gibson won a free kick in a good position and Alex Neil's driven kick found Easton at the back post and his header was too good for McGregor. Naturally, the Accies fans in the main stand went berserk and Accies thoroughly enjoyed the moment.
Rangers were always dangerous when in possession however and they immediately reacted by putting Accies onto the back foot. However, as can be seen by the stats at the foot of the report, Tomas Cerny wasn't exactly over stretched in the Accies goal. Accies were still doing really well in midfield, with McCarthy, McArthur, Mensing and Neil playing really well together. So it was a real blow to the hoops when Rangers equalised just a few minutes before the interval, with Kris Boyd scoring from the spot after Trent McClenahan had fouled Kenny Miller.
The visitors seemed to be very relieved at this and it was no huge surprise when they took the lead shortly after the break. Unfortunately, Trent McClenahan was again at fault as he shouldn't have been dispossessed on the touchline. the ball was passed out to Steven Davis and his cross from the right found Kris Boyd in the right place to head past Cerny. Boyd appeared to be in an offside position but the assistant referee wasn't about to change his mind.
The game went into a bit of a lull after this but Accies were still giving a good account of themselves. Billy Reid made a couple of changes, with Mark Corcoran and David Graham replacing Lucas Akins and James Gibson. This didn't do an awful lot to change the pattern of the game as Rangers looked increasingly dangerous on the break. Walter Smith replaced Da Marcus Beasley with Nacho Novo and the wee Spaniard made a quick impact on the game a few minutes later when he capitalised on some poor defending by Martin Canning to run in and tuck the ball underneath Tomas Cerny. Quite a few people in the main stand cheered this goal to the consternation of the genuine Accies fans.
Richard Offiong then replaced the impressive Simon Mensing but he wasn't able to get much change out of the Accies defence. James McCarthy gave another good performance despite the songs being sung about him and he came closest to pulling a goal back with a fine run and right footed shot that just went past the post. But there were to be no further goals as Rangers gathered the points. Best for Accies were the midfield quartet of Mensing, McCarthy, McArthur and Neil with Brian Easton proving yet again that he should have a big future in the game.
It's been disappointing to lose so many games in a row, but Accies have played really well in almost all of them and they are not far away from the level they need to reach to establish themselves in the SPL. As manager Billy Reid has pointed out, the whole club is on a huge learning curve at the moment and given that they are within 2 points of no fewer than 4 other clubs it's not as though they are in a terrible position. However, they need to cut out the defensive errors and gain that cutting edge up front. If they can do that then they will be just fine.
Hamilton: Cerny, Mensing (Offiong 84), Swailes, Canning, Easton, McArthur, McCarthy, Neil, McClenahan, Akins (Corcoran 68), Gibson (Graham 67).
Subs Not Used: Murdoch, Elebert, Casement, Ettien.
Goals: Easton 26.
Rangers: McGregor, Broadfoot, Weir, Bougherra, Papac, Davis, Mendes, Thomson, Beasley (Novo 75), Boyd, Miller (Lafferty 83).
Subs Not Used: Alexander, Dailly, Loy, McMillan, Darcheville.
Goals: Boyd 42 pen, 50, Novo 80.
Att: 4,613
Ref: D McDonald
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