Hamilton rue a late collapse as Graham leveller gets County out of jail
immobile as County passed the ball between them and Lee Erwin manoeuvred himself into a shooting position.
He didn’t connect as sweetly as he would have liked with his low drive, but goalkeeper Owain Fon Williams spilled the ball and the unmarked Billy Mckay was left with a tap-in from six yards for the opening goal, his first in 11 games. Just 36 seconds had elapsed and already some of the home fans were apoplectic with rage.
Accies were devastated by that early blow and couldn’t
‘We had a poor start when we conceded a goal from the kick-off.
‘So that was disappointing but, from then on in, it was total domination until the last five or six minutes when County need to chase the game.
‘I don’t think you’ve ever done enough in football until that final whistle blows. We had enough possession and chances to see it through.’
Hamilton fell behind before some of their fans had even gained entry to the stadium as their defence were caught cold.
They were certainly off at half-time and full-time, leaving them the rest of the weekend to reflect on the fickleness of fate and supporters.
‘I thought we deserved more from the match full stop, not just from the second half,’ said home manager Brian Rice. IT WAS a strange afternoon at the Fountain Of Youth Stadium, a contest which began and ended in high drama, and with each club claiming a point apiece.
Hamilton will feel, rightly, that they had done enough to earn the victory but, not for the first time, defensive lapses cost them dearly.
Losing a goal at the start and the end of the game overshadowed a stirring second-half display by the hosts, one which should have hoisted them to within a point of Livingston and yesterday’s opponents.
Instead, they were jeered
do a thing right afterwards. Scott McMann appealed for a penalty kick when he took a tumble in the 26th minute but he was correctly cautioned for simulation.
However, when Ross Stewart went down under pressure from Alex Gogic in the other penalty area, it looked as though the Cypriot had got away with one.
It was a scrappy affair and County centre-back Keith Watson also earned a yellow card for a cynical lunge at Mickel Miller as the forward skipped away from him.
Stewart should have doubled the Highlanders’ advantage five minutes from the break when Erwin’s through ball left him with only Fon Williams to beat. However, as the goalkeeper narrowed the angle, Stewart fluffed his lines, poking the ball wide of the post from 12 yards.
Accies replaced the ineffective Ross Cunningham with Steve Davies at the interval and the substitute was inches away with a free-kick from 20 yards after Michael Gardyne had been booked for bringing down Lewis Smith. The Accies teenager gained his revenge almost immediately, latching on to a defence-splitting pass from Scott Martin and turning Richard Foster inside out before drilling the ball high behind Ross Laidlaw.
Target man George Oakley then became the second Hamilton player to be booked for diving before he, too, managed to get himself on the scoresheet.
Smith turned provider this time round, supplying the striker whose shot on the turn from the edge of the box squeezed just inside Laidlaw’s right-hand post.
Accies had turned the game on its head and looked certain to record a muchneeded win. However, familiar failings saw them caught with a sucker punch with just two minutes remaining.
Quite where Hamilton’s back four were when
County broke is a matter for debate (and, no doubt, sober reflection in the video analysis room tomorrow morning) as Gardyne raced down the left wing before cutting the ball back for substitute Brian Graham to finish.
Hamilton midfielder Martin was shown a straight red card deep into stoppage time when he appeared to force his head into Josh Mullin’s face after he had fouled Stewart but Accies held on for a point.
County co-manager
Stuart Kettlewell had mixed feelings about the outcome, saying: ‘There’s a little bit of disappointment there.
‘Yes, we’re heartened by scoring another late goal but we can’t keep putting ourselves in positions like this. There are easier ways to see yourself through games.’