NIGHT OF THE LONG KNIFE
Sean scored but Killie lost edge
Frustrated Lee Clark said this draw felt like a defeat after watching his Kilmarnock side fly out the traps with a seventh-minute opener.
The Killie boss reckons he’s never seen a team so dominant as his troops were in the f irst half hour.
But only having Sean Longstaff’s early opener to show for their superiority came back to haunt them when Eamonn Brophy popped up to level the game two minutes before the break.
And despite admitting a point was a fair result in the end, Clark couldn’t hide his disappointment that his side had failed to make a big move back into the top six.
Clark said: “A point apiece was probably fair but I can’t believe that after the way we started. The first half an hour was so one-sided.
“For all the time I’ve been in professional football since the age of 16, I’ve never been involved in a game like that where you’re so dominant. You are playing so well because you’re playing so simple.
“But we stopped doing the good things and it feels like a defeat.
“We gave Hamilton a sniff and they’ve taken it.
“Then the second half turned out to be like what all our games have been – very tight.”
Hami lton were play ing catch-up almost right from the start when Killie forged ahead. Decent interplay through the midf ield found Rory McKenzie, whose little lay off teed up Longstaff to take a touch and then sweep a power ful , low drive f rom 25 yards that tucked neat ly inside Gary Woods’s right-hand post.
The home side’s horrible start didn’t get much better as the 15th minute brought another spanner to throw in Martin Canning’s works when Alex D’Acol limped off.
The big Brazilian was replaced by Brophy and it was the sub who was presented a golden chance to level on 38 minutes.
Danny Redmond’s throughball found the striker just inside the box and his swift turn and shot curled just wide of Freddie
Woodman’s left post. But when presented with a second bite at the cherry just before the break, Brophy made it count.
Massimo Donati played a low ball through for Brophy with his back to goal again. Another quick turn and first-time strike this time sent the ball the inside of the post.
The Ayrshire men should have hit back almost straight from the restart when McKenzie found Boyd unmarked in front of goal – but the striker fluffed his finish.
Clark threw on new recruits Joshua Umerah and Conor Sammon as Killie pushed for the winner.
But it was Hamilton who came closest with Mikey Devlin flashing a header just wide, Darian MacKinnon firing a screamer over the bar and then Redmond’s in- swinging corner forcing surprised Woodman to scramble off his line.
But in the end the draw was a fair ref lection of the game and Brophy revealed he was just relieved to atone for his earlier miss by bagging the equaliser.
He said: “The first chance was a much easier one, especially as it was on my good foot.
“When you miss chances you want to get another opportunity quickly and luckily for me the second one went in minutes
later.”