KILTIE IS THE KING FOR KILLIE
Dyer delight at Killie turnaround after Greg’s double
HOW quickly bleak situations can turn into bright tomorrows in a league in which there is so little between so many of the teams.
At the turn of the year, Kilmarnock manager Alex Dyer was talking about trying to cling onto his job after five straight defeats. The fact he had also received a poison pen letter containing racist language just added to the sense of a man who really needed those around him to rally in support.
Yet, rally they have. Dyer shook things up for his side’s last game of 2020 at Motherwell and was rewarded with a two-goal win that has since been followed by a draw with St Mirren and this welcome victory over Hamilton.
Dyer, his side now seventh in the Premiership on goal difference, is not quite out of the woods yet. Given the high hopes for the future that existed when he was assistant to Steve Clarke and finishing third, existing precariously above those sides in the heart of the relegation dogfight is not exactly what the board will have been hoping for this far down the line.
However, things look a heck of a lot better than they did. Kiltie was brought back into the starting line-up for that win at Fir Park and got on the scoresheet. His two goals made the difference yesterday against an Accies side weakened by the midday loss of Aaron Martin, informed by the track-and-trace app on his telephone that he had to self-isolate, and were a fitting reward for the most prominent attacking influence on the field.
Dyer took time to praise his entire squad for remaining in his corner.
‘They have never doubted me and I have never doubted them,’ he said. ‘It is about staying together and believing in what we want to achieve.
‘The letter wasn’t chatted with among me and the players. It happened and I kept it away from everyone.
‘It was one letter. It wasn’t the Killie people, which I know. I go to the supermarket round the corner and I have never had anyone say anything untoward to me.
‘Kiltie was excellent. He set the tone all afternoon. All-round performance, he was brilliant and that triggered everyone else off. They couldn’t live with us.’
Dyer has admitted, though, that uncertainty created by the coronavirus pandemic means Kiltie and others out of contract this summer face a wait to find out their futures.
‘I won’t be giving anyone contracts or anything,’ admitted Dyer. ‘They have to wait, to dig in and see where we finish.’
The opener from Kiltie on 37 minutes came about through persistence as much as skill, if the truth be told. He had been presented with a handful of opportunities earlier in the half and failed to take advantage.
At the midway point of the first 45, he carved out a chance for himself on the right-hand side of the area and sent a low effort flashing wide of the far post.
Shortly afterwards, Aaron McGowan cut the ball back to him and his drive from the edge of the area struck the grounded Hakeem Odoffin. There were loud shouts for a penalty-kick from the home side, but referee Grant Irvine, in charge of a Premiership game for the first time, chose to look the other way.
Attending these games without spectators can often provide amusement in the way of the on-field dialogue only those on the field of play are normally party to.
In the immediate aftermath of that decision, Irvine, standing in close proximity to Alan Power and Kirk Broadfoot, was told in no uncertain terms that he had missed a ‘stonewaller’. It set the tone for the afternoon, really. Killie’s players were never shy in passing comment on the display of the officials with Chris Burke — having witnessed visiting keeper Kyle Gourlay grab the ball under the crossbar after it had come off Ben Stirling amid claims it had crossed the line — bellow the word ‘typical’ into the cold afternoon air.
Accies did have a couple of chances themselves to snatch the lead in the immediate aftermath. Andrew Winter got himself into a good position inside the area after moving onto a Ross Callachan pass — only to be denied by an excellent saving tackle from Stuart Findlay as he prepared to pull the trigger.
A matter of minutes later, Odoffin then got himself onto the end of a Scott McMann corner and saw his powerful header rattle off the face of the crossbar before bouncing to safety. It will have been a source of frustration for Accies then that they fell behind just as they were beginning to get some kind of foothold in the game.
Youssouf Mulumbu picked up a clearance at the edge of the area and released a speculative effort. It took a timely deflection inside the box, though, and landed in Kiltie’s path. His reaction was instinctive, the contact on the ball unconvincing.
However, despite keeper Gourlay managing to get a hand on the ball, it still managed to spin and squirm its way into the net.
Charlie Trafford and Callachan went close for Accies after the interval as they looked like making a real game of it, but they just switched off completely after the hour-mark and sealed their own fate.
Killie left-back Brandon Haunstrup was allowed to move deep into enemy territory and pick out Kiltie with a forward pass just outside the area. Quite why he found himself in such splendid isolation in such an advanced position is something only the visiting defence can answer.
However, the 23-year-old took a touch and moved inside as Accies were desperately trying to re-organise, releasing a right-footed effort that curled beautifully past the despairing dive of Gourlay and found its way comfortably inside the far post.