Disbelief for Dons as Devlin lifts Accies
HOW Aberdeen must loathe the very sight of the Superseal Stadium. For the second time this season, a single goal condemned them to defeat. But this remarkable game raised their frustration to an unprecedented level.
Behind to an early Michael Devlin strike, the subsequent 81 minutes of action on Shrove Tuesday became one long battering of the Hamilton penalty area. You can insert your own pancake-based punchline about the outcome. No one associated with the Pittodrie club would find it funny.
Accies, though, were left grinning from ear to ear. These were three precious points earned by sheer endurance. Reduced to ten men when Darian MacKinnon was sent off with six minutes remaining for two bookings in rapid succession, they refused to wilt under relentless pressure.
That perseverance took them off the foot of the Premiership and up to ninth.
While Martin Canning embraced his backroom staff at the final whistle, savouring a huge confidence boost ahead of Saturday’s Scottish Cup quarter-final at Ibrox, there was only bewilderment for Derek McInnes.
A corner count of 21-0 told something of Aberdeen’s dominance. Enough chances to win a month’s worth of games were created. Incredibly, none were converted.
The goal that allowed Hamilton their success could scarcely have been simpler. As he put his hands to his head in the technical area, McInnes also cast an accusatory eye towards his central defenders.
There should have been little genuine danger when Ryan Christie caught Georgios Sarris to concede a free-kick closer to the centre circle than the penalty area. However, Accies maximised the opportunity.
Danny Redmond delivered and Devlin escaped Ash Taylor to hook a volley into the net. The finish was admirable. The attempts at preventing it less so.
Aberdeen produced a powerful response to the early setback as black shirts swarmed forward, finding space, creating chances. Somehow, though, this conveyor belt of pressure failed to result in an equaliser before half-time.
A Kenny McLean flick released Adam Rooney, who shot wide. From there on, it was relentless.
Rooney hooked past from a Niall McGinn cross before the same combination came closer still. The winger’s delivery was met by Rooney’s glancing header, with the ball rebounding back off the inside of the far post.
McGinn then lashed a right-foot drive across the face of goal, before switching feet with a free-kick that nestled on the roof of the net.
Soon it was back to Rooney. Fractionally short of connecting with Christie’s cross at pointblank range, he was then off target with a header.
Even then, Accies still had to repel one final push ahead of the interval. Taylor smashed a drive over the bar before Shay Logan gave similar treatment to a loose ball in the heart of the area.
Gary Woods stood strong to block it, although it’s doubtful the goalkeeper knew that much about it. When Andrew Considine was then thwarted on the followup, Hamilton had made it to 15 minutes of safety. The question was whether that period of reprieve would be ended as soon as the second half got underway.
McInnes sought to make it so with a forward-thinking substitution as centre-back Mark Reynolds made way for attacking midfielder Peter Pawlett. The reshuffle saw Considine move infield, while Graeme Shinnie was asked to provide more ammunition from left-back.
It didn’t take long for the bombardment to begin again.
McGinn fed McLean to wheel and smack in a near-post effort that Woods pushed out. The former St Mirren midfielder was then wayward with a finish after escaping two challenges.
Rakish Bingham did manage to draw a save from Joe Lewis at the opposite end. But that was a blip. Aberdeen weren’t so much camped around the Hamilton penalty box as laying foundations for a hotel complex. Still, though, there was no way to parity.
For that, Hamilton had Devlin to thank. When Logan connected with McLean’s cross, Accies’ goalscorer made another priceless intervention by heading over.
Substitute Miles Storey was offside as he tapped in Pawlett’s cross-shot before MacKinnon was ordered off. Booked a minute or so earlier, he received a second yellow for toppling Shinnie outside the area. This, however, was a night when no advantage would bring Aberdeen a goal.