Hitman Louis has all the right moves
Goal came straight off the training ground
Andy Mcgilvray
Louis Longridge blasted Hamilton into the last 16 of the Betfred Cup and admitted the goal came from a training ground move.
Longridge said he knew Ali Crawford would execute the mover perfectly, and he had to make sure he got the shot on target.
As it was, the ball ripped past Liam Kelly for Longridge’s second goal of the season, and Accies topped Group G on goaldifference.
He said: “I’m always pleased to score, but obviously the most important thing is the victory we got from the goal.
“It was quite important, because we knew we had to go out and win to try and give us a chance to top the group and get to the next round of the cup.
“It was a training-ground routine, I knew Ali was over the ball and I knew he was going to execute it well, so it was about timing the run right.
“I managed to do that, took the touch to set myself, got a clean strike on it and scored the goal.
“I scored a couple in the friendlies, but the most important ones are in the competitive games because those are the ones that count.
“My main objective was to come back and score goals, and doing it in competitive games I’ve managed to get two in four, and a couple of assists as well, so I’m pleased with the start of the season so far.
“I just need to take that into the league as well.”
Hamilton weren’t at their best on Saturday, but still had enough about them
to see off a hard-working Livingston side.
A 4-2 win over Edinburgh City in midweek, with goals from Alex D’acol, Ali Crawford, Jordan Mcgregor and a Dougie Imrie penalty set Accies up for the chance to top the group, and they went about their business professionally.
Both sides passed up some half-chances before Longridge’s cross from the left was headed over by Imrie in 20 minutes.
Hamilton took the lead two minutes later when the ball broke to D’acol and he smashed an unstoppable shot past Kelly from 22 yards.
Livi levelled in 41 minutes when a Nicky Cadden free-kick was headed into the air by Sean Crighton, it looped over Remi Matthews, struck the crossbar, the goalkeeper’s back, and went over the line. A Crawford corner was headed over by Georgios Sarris and Grant Gillespie’s shot on the turn was well taken by Kelly at the right post. Hamilton bagged the winner in 56 minutes when Crawford sent a free kick over to the left-hand side of the box and, while Livi’s defenders were caught unawares, Longridge smashed a fierce shot into the bottom right corner.
Captain Michael Devlin nearly scored an own-goal with an attempted pass-back in 62 minutes, but was relieved to see it trundle past the left post.
Livingston’s Cadden nearly grabbed an equaliser in 69 minutes with a well-struck free-kick, but Matthews got down well to punch it past the left.
The West Lothian side should have pulled level in 82 minutes when Liam Watt was sent through on goal, saw his shot blocked by Matthews, and the rebound fell perfectly to Scott Pittman but he blasted over, much to Accies’ relief.
Crawford saw a free-kick deflected past for a corner on the right as Hamilton sought to secure the win, and the midfielder sent a shot narrowly over in the closing stages.
However, it was enough to see Accies progress.