Accies suffered their first league defeat of the season when they went down 1-0 at Rugby Park on Saturday.
David Graham did not help Accies cause when he was shown a red card after 78 minutes for serious foul play. This means that he will miss the Co-operative Insurance Cup tie against Clyde but will be available for the match against Hearts on Saturday. Of more concern to Billy Reid will be the fact that skipper Alex Neil sustained a broken nose in the first half, Chris Swailes had to have stitches inserted into a wound above his eye and fellow central defender Mark McLaughlin limped off with a badly twisted knee in the second half.
Kilmarnock 1 Hamilton Accies 0
Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League
Rugby Park, Kilmarnock
Saturday, 23rd August 2008
Accies suffered their first league defeat of the season when they went down 1-0 at Rugby Park on Saturday, with Manuel Pascali scoring the only goal of the game in first half injury time. However, the narrow scoreline does not reflect the fact that the home side were worthy winners.
The news for Accies at the start was that boss Billy Reid was able to name the same side for the third consecutive league game, something of a rare occurrence. This was a game that didn't flow to any great extent, with the Kilmarnock midfield quickly stifling most of the creative play from Accies. Chances were few and far between but it seemed, especially in the first half, that Killie's midfield were able to pick their passes to the front men without too much trouble.
The early part of the game was punctuated by a fair number of fouls, many of them from Accies, and referee Crawford Allan was a very busy man. Certainly the home fans were getting hot under the collar about Accies' style of play, but in fact it was home defender Simon Ford who was the first to see yellow for a trip on a sprinting Richard Offiong. David Fernandez joined him in the book at the same time for dissent. the resulting Tony Stevenson free kick found Chris Swailes unmarked at the back post but the big Englishman's header sailed over the top. This was to prove to be Accies' best chance of the game. Swailes sustained a cut above his eye in the first half and had to leave the field on more than one occasion for repairs.
Killie had a few half chances in the first period and were denied by some excellent goalkeeping when Tomas Cerny tipped a Simon Ford header over the bar from close range. Just when it looked likely that Accies would reach the interval without mishap, Kilmarnock scored in added-on time. The goal was really simple, with a well struck corner by Taouil being headed home by Manuel Pascali at the back post. Alex Neil suffered a broken nose at the goal and was taken to hospital, with Joel Thomas taking his place at the interval.
Accies could consider themselves unfortunate to be behind at the break as they had competed well in the first half and some of their passing and movement had been really good. However, the goal and injury to the skipper were hard to take.
James McCarthy managed to break clear in midfield a few minutes after half time and, with Joel Thomas in space on his left, a promising Accies attack looked on. However, home captain Garry Hay tripped James and the chance was lost, with the Killie man being yellow carded. Worse was to follow for Accies just a few minutes later when Mark McLaughlin suffered a knee injury when blocking an effort from Craig Bryson. The big man tried to carry on, but was replaced by David Elebert, who was making his SPL debut.
Craig Bryson should have made the game safe for Kilmarnock shortly afterwards when he got clear of the Accies defence and sprinted towards Tomas Cerny. The former Clyde man's shot went just past the post as Tony Stevenson arrived the tackle him. Accies upped their efforts as the half progressed but, despite some good play by Joel Thomas and James McArthur in particular, a clear chance was never created.
The game effectively ended as a contest with 12 minutes remaining when David Graham was shown a straight red card after fouling Manuel Pascali out on the touchline. It was a foul borne of frustration and although the red card was merited, the playing of the song "Bad Boy" over the PA system as Graham departed was in dubious taste.
Tomas Cerny had to make a good save from Danny Invincible after Killie broke through the stretched Accies defence but there was to be no further scoring.
This clearly wasn't the best performance by an Accies team. This was their first league defeat in over 6 months and it's hard to argue against the fact that Kilmarnock were the better team. A lot will now rest on the fitness of Alex Neil and Mark McLaughlin, given their importance to the team. The next game, at home to Clyde in the Co-operative Insurance Cup, will surely see Billy Reid make a few changes ahead of the next league match against Hearts at the weekend.
Kilmarnock: Combe, Fowler, Ford, Wright, Hay, Invincibile, Taouil, Sammon (Simmonds 81), Bryson, Fernandez, Pascali.
Subs Not Used: Rascle, Lilley, Gibson, Skelton, Flannigan, Cox.
Booked: Ford, Fernandez, Hay.
Goals: Pascali 45.
Hamilton: Cerny, Stevenson, Easton, McCarthy, Swailes, McLaughlin (Elebert 50), Mensing (Corcoran 82), McArthur, Offiong, Neil (Thomas 45), Graham.
Subs Not Used: Murdoch, Akins, Sorsa, Lyle.
Sent Off: Graham (78).
Booked: Stevenson.
Att: 5,339
Ref: C Allan
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