Five star Celts stun Hamilton in opener
CELTIC ........................................................ 5 HAMILTON ACCIES .................................. 1
“When is it never a tough day when you go to Celtic Park?”
It was a brutally honest question posed by Hamilton Accies boss Brian Rice after their opening day humbling against Celtic.
But having come away from Parkhead last season with a narrow 2-1 defeat, this was a more difficult day than he would have hoped for as an Odsonne Edouard hat-trick, a Jeremie Frimpong strike and a late addition by Patryk Kimala secured an impressive closed-door victory.
Scott Martin’s deflected effort proved to be nothing more than a consolation for Accies.
New Douglas Park gaffer Rice had no regrets about trying to take the game to the Hoops – fielding two strikers – as the champions put down a marker in their bid for 10 league titles in a row.
Rice continued: “It’s always tough. It’s like me trying to take on Lewis Hamilton in my club car. You’ve just got to catch them on an off day.
“We went there and we had a go, The boys gave it everything they had. We didn’t sit back and defend, we tried to have a go.
“We created a few chances, probably more than we ever have at Celtic Park.
“The boys never gave up. I was delighted with the application.
“There was a bit of naïvety when it comes to defending, but I’ve got a £20-£30million striker scoring a hat-trick against me.
“We’ll be much better for it. We’ll be much more streetwise, but the big thing for me was that we had a go.”
The Hoops took the lead when Greg
Taylor’s cross from the left-flank found Edouard in space in the six-yard box, and he tapped the ball into an empty net with Ryan Fulton in no man’s land after 20 minutes.
Claims for a foul on Odoffin in the build-up to the opener were waved away by referee Willie Collum.
The Glasgow giants would make it two with an almost identical goal after 30 minutes, Taylor this time found Frimpong unmarked at the back post to blast home.
Accies would get a stroke of luck moments later as Scott Martin’s drive deflected off of Callum Mcgregor and Julien towards goal. Bain got a glove to it, but couldn’t stop the ball nestling in the net. The lifeline for the visitors was snuffed out shortly after half-time as Forrest found Edouard in space again and he calmly buried the shot.
It was four shortly after despite Fulton making a good stop from Ryan Christie’s shot, but the Accies’ defence were slow to react and Edouard tapped in his hat-trick after 53 minutes.
Substitute Kimala outpaced Jamie Hamilton in injury time to clip the ball in off the post to complete the rout.
Gaffer Rice went with a young side against the champions, with the starting eleven having an average age of just 22.
Ross Callachan the most experienced performer at 26.
However, he had no regrets about throwing the kids in at the deep end.
“These lads have got my trust. I believe in these lads,” he added. “At Hamilton it’s very, very hard to build a team.
“The best players always get taken from us and it’s very hard to replace our best players. I’m trying to build a young squad where in two or three years we see the benefit.
“It’s going to be difficult, but I can see signs of the togetherness. We have the character, desire and work ethic to hold our own in this league.”