Red-hot Killie triumph again but Clarke still plays it so cool

KILMARNOCK moved to within four points of fourth-placed Hibernian with this hard-fought victory, but manager Steve Clarke refused to contemplate earning a Europa League slot.

It was a sixth successive league win for his side but it isn’t simply his one-game-at-a-time mantra which is preventing Clarke from checking his passport is up to date.

‘I don’t think you can get too far ahead of yourself,’ he said. ‘It’s also a little bit disrespectful to Motherwell because they have just reached the Scottish Cup final.

‘If they win it — which they can do — then it doesn’t come down to fourth place in the league. For us, the first objective was to avoid relegation. The second was to reach the top six and we’ve done that.

‘The next target is to secure fifth and we have a nine-point gap on Hearts. We must make sure as quickly as possible after the split that we make that gap insurmountable and then, if we have a chance to be fourth, we’ll think about that.’

Hamilton made four changes from the side which lost narrowly to Celtic the previous weekend, with Gary Woods, Georgios Sarris, Dougie Imrie and Lewis Ferguson coming in for Ryan Fulton, Darren Lyon, Ross Jenkins and Danny Redmond.

Killie handed a debut to former Celtic goalkeeper Leo Fasan due to Jamie MacDonald suffering an arm injury in training, while Aaron Simpson was given a first Premiership start in place of the crocked Stephen O’Donnell.

The visitors had the first chance after only five minutes when Xavier Tomas headed a Simpson cross to Kris Boyd but the Premiership’s leading scorer scuffed his shot.

Killie suffered a blow when Rory McKenzie limped off after only 17 minutes and was replaced by Irish midfielder Alan Power.

Youssouf Mulumbu tried an ambitious volley from 30 yards, which cleared Woods’ crossbar. Then an eight-man passing move ended with Simpson heading into the goalkeeper’s arms.

Accies simply could not find a foothold in the game and Tomas was booked for a cynical foul on Greg Kiltie. Sarris also received a yellow card for a late lunge on Jordan Jones as Kilmarnock piled on the pressure.

Clarke’s side were playing all the football but they did not have an end product.

Indeed, Hamilton came closest to a first-half goal when Darian MacKinnon’s 20-yarder clipped the top of the bar after Rakish Bingham and Ali Crawford had created the opening.

The hosts finished strongly and Fasan had to look lively to save long-range efforts from Bingham and Ferguson just before the break.

Killie restarted on the front foot but Jones fired wastefully over after being teed up by Greg Taylor.

Woods bravely saved at Jones’ feet as he sprinted into the box but a heavy final touch from the Northern Ireland winger deprived Killie of the opening goal.

Jones also wanted a penalty when he took a tumble inside the area but he was fortunate not to be booked for diving.

However, he played a key role when the breakthrough finally came in 63 minutes, swinging in a corner which defender Kirk Broadfoot headed emphatically behind Woods.

Ten minutes later, an inspired double substitution from manager Martin Canning helped Hamilton draw level.

David Templeton and Antonio Rojano were sent on for Crawford and Sarris — and former Hearts and Rangers winger Templeton equalised with his first touch.

Gary Dicker brought down Ferguson 25 yards out and Templeton curled the resulting free-kick against the post. The ball struck the unfortunate Fasan and ended up in the net.

Kilmarnock were not done, though, and — ironically — Templeton played a part in their winner.

He lost possession to Mulumbu inside his own half. The Congolese midfielder supplied Power, who fed Simpson and the Wolves loanee delivered a low cross which was swept home from point-blank range by Boyd.

‘That was a kick in the teeth,’ said Hamilton midfielder MacKinnon. ‘But you just can’t leave Kris Boyd standing on his own in your six-yard box. It’s criminal defending.

‘It’s those mistakes that are costing us games. They could cost us our place in this division if we don’t sort it out.

‘We got back into the game thanks to Temps coming on and delivering that bit of quality.

‘It was a scrappy match but when you’re at home and you score that goal, then you expect to go on and win the game.

‘But when you leave Boydie alone in the six-yard box, that’s just madness.’