New Accies boss hails Mackinnon’s miracle
New Hamilton Accies’ boss Brian Rice smiled as he acclaimed a minor miracle at the Hope Stadium.
He told his players that getting Darian Mackinnon to score a wonder goal that earned them a point shows anything is possible.
It’s rare to see a draw celebrated with the fervour it was by the Accies’ fans, but it illustrates the tension that hangs over teams at the bottom of the table.
Hamilton were about to drop into the bottom two when the referee signalled there would be a minimum of four additional minutes to play.
That’s when Dundee goalie Seny Dieng decided to run from his area and slice at a clearance.
The ball was then squared to Mackinnon and the midfielder hammered it high into the net from the edge of the box.
It was his first goal since August 2017, and he put as much energy into the celebration as he does with his tackles.
Accies’ manager Rice said: “I said to the lads, if we can get Darian Mackinnon scoring from there, we can do anything.
“It was just a comment to try to break the ice as I’ve not had a chance to get to know everyone yet.
“Darian is a very influential player, he’s the team captain and drives the team on.
“But he also knows he’ll have to produce the goods on the pitch to be in the team.
“I’m delighted for the players. Whether it’s my first game or my 100th, I’m here to improve them. If we can do that then we’ll be OK.”
“I’ve not worked with any of the players apart from George Oakley and I saw some things about the players that I didn’t know.
“I’ve been through lots of ups and downs in football. I was actually quite calm on the sidelines for my first match.”
It was an afternoon of new beginnings for both of these Premiership strugglers.
The appointment of Brian Rice as head coach – or maybe the departure of Martin Canning – certainly seemed to lift the spirits of the home fans. They gave him a big cheer when he took his place in the dugout and roared their approval when he was the last man to leave the field. Dundee handed debuts to five of the 11 new players who have arrived at Dens Park during the transfer window. Getting so many fresh faces to gel is never easy but it nearly worked for the Dark Blues –until Accies came up with their dramatic equaliser.
Rice had promised a more attacking style of football but, after an early burst of energy, creating chances was something his men found difficult.
There were promising signs when Boyd clipped a shot just wide early on, quickly followed by Oakley and Andreu having efforts blocked.
Dundee carved out a couple of decent chances and Accies had goalkeeper Gary Woods to thank for keeping them on level terms at the break.
The Englishman reacted brilliantly to stop a Martin Woods’ point-blank effort.
He followed that up with a great leap to push away a shot from Dales that came through a ruck of legs.
Dundee played their way into the match and went ahead with a fine goal from Scott Wright. The on-loan Aberdeen forward got the ball in the box, sent Kilgallon to the ground when he feigned to shoot, then clipped the ball past Woods.
Accies, to their credit, never gave up and eventually got the draw they deserved.
The Dundee keeper did well to save Mcgowan’s deflected shot before blundering to set-up Accies’ goal. conjured up a couple of outstanding saves that kept Hamilton in the game.