Killie boss rues dropped points after a great start
HAMILTON ACCIES 1 Brophy (42) KILMARNOCK 1 Longstaff (7)
LEE CLARK felt his players produced an opening half- hour that was as good as anything he’s ever been involved in.
Clark said: “A draw was probably fair, but it feels like a defeat, given how dominant we were for the first half-hour.
“Of all the years I’ve been involved in football, since I was 16, I’ve never been involved in a game where it was so one-sided.”
Accies boss Martin Canning praised his young players for fighting back to get a draw after seeing his injury list grow to NINE first team players out injured when Alex D’Acol went off after 20 minutes.
The Hamilton squad is thin enough but he is delighted the players have displayed the character and commitment to take four points from their last two league games.
Accies fell behind to a Sean Longstaff strike but responded when sub Eamonn Brophy levelled just before half-time.
The 20-year-old striker typified what Canning talked about and the manager said: “It’s credit to our young players that they have been able to help, but any team would struggle with such an amount of players unavailable.
“I was pleased young Eamonn scored. We’ll work on his all- round game, taking the ball in and his anticipation, but the finishing part is the most important aspect for a striker and it’s there for him.
“Kilmarnock started really well and you could they had a week to prepare but we had a gruelling midweek game against Inverness that took a lot out of us.”
Accies fans met with the board pre- match, peace breaking out after the cancellation of their protest against the powerbrokers for not
sacking the manager. Canning said: “I don’t think the players reacted to the talk of a protest.
“They are focused. We all know we could be sitting here a few points better off but we have conceded late goals three or four times this season.”
In this game, both goals were stunning. The travelling fans were cheering after just seven minutes when Killie took the lead.
Longstaff collected the ball 22 yards out and he unleashed a powerful, right- foot shot that flew past Gary Woods.
But as the first 45 minutes wore on, Killie came under more pressure.
Brophy – on for the injured D’Acol – was set up via a beautiful little pass from Danny Redmond.
Just 15 yards out, it looked a certain equaliser, but he failed to hit the target.
However, he more than made amends just two minutes before the interval when he cracked a shot from the edge of the penalty area which gave Freddie Wood man absolutely no chance.
But, despite fine efforts from all involved, neither side could find a winner.