No Rice whine after Darian sends Accies fans off to pints with grin and tonic
The new Hamilton gaffer reckons the sky is the limit for his side after the midfield enforcer slammed a stunning last-gasp leveller in their crucial clash with Dundee.
Loan star Scott Wright had fired the new look Dens side ahead with a cool second-half finish.
But MacKinnon was the hero with the late screamer that keeps Accies out of the bottom two.
Rice said: “I told the boys after the game that if Darian MacKinnon can score from there then anything can happen! I have only had them for one day on half a pitch but I told them there would be no excuses.
“I told them to send the fans away happy, send them away for their pint and say ‘ We had a go today.’
“I’m just in the door and getting to know the staff, it’s all new. I have never worked with any of the players here, bar George Oakley who I brought in.
“So I learned a lot today, I looked at people thinking he can do this or he can’t do that. It has all happened very quickly and there is still a lot of work to do. I am delighted for the players, they put a lot into it and it was good to see them get something for their efforts.”
Accies celebrated the draw like a win but while Dundee were down, they were far from despondent.
Boss Jim McIntrye brought in 11 new faces in the January window – and handed f ive players debuts including scorer Wright.
James Horsfield, Ryan McGowan, Ethan Robson and Andreas Hadenus were all pitched in and got pass marks from their gaffer. And not one starter for the Dees was involved in their win at Hamilton last September, so they were always going to take a while to click in to gear.
They were lucky not to be behind after Steven Boyd went close then Oakley and Tony Andreu were denied by a few frantic blocks.
The Dens men gradually found their feet and Martin Woods thought he’d fired them ahead – only for namesake Gary in the Accies goal to produce a sensational reaction stop.
The keeper made another stunning save soon after, getting down low to shove away a lethal drive from Andy Dales through a pile of traffic. It was
congested after the break as well. Andreu lashed a long-ranger into the stands while Dundee continued to move into advanced positions before running up blind alleys.
But Wright found the right path in 65 minutes. Sub Paul McGowan picked up the loose ball but his pass was partially cut out.
On-loan Aberdeen man Wright was ready to pounce though as he collected the scraps, spun his man and neatly tucked past Woods.
Accies didn’t buckle. Rice was left stunned his side weren’t level after Dee keeper Seny Dieng incredibly clawed the ball out following a wild swipe from Aaron McGowan that nicked off Steve Davies and looked goal-bound. The ball spun to safety before ref Euan Anderson had to step in to sort out a barney in the box.
True to form, it ended up with Darian MacKinnon and Ziggy Gordon booked for Hamilton along with Dundee’s Nathan Ralph.
Accies ploughed on, had a halfhearted shout for handball in the box and Alex Gogic slashed wide.
But just before the same old story reached its natural conclusion, MacKinnon ripped up the script in the final minute.
Dieng raced out of his box but made a hash of his clearance. The ball was worked back across and MacKinnon raced in to lash into the top corner. Hamilton represents Rice’s first foray into management in the senior game.
And while it wasn’t a perfect start, it wasn’t far off.
He said: “I thought it was a good game of football.
“We started well but couldn’t capitalise then our keeper kept us in it with two fantastic saves.
“After we lost the goal we brought on positive subs because we wanted to go on and win the game.
“In the circumstances, it feels good to have scored when we did and get a point.
“We deserved that and the draw was the right result.”