BOTTOMS UP
Devlin is the hero as battling Accies dig deep to survive Dons onslaught
AFTER boasting a five-game winning run of gorging on goals, Aberdeen picked Pancake Tuesday to start Lent early.
Despite battering Hamilton all evening, Derek McInnes’s side decided to give up taking their chances as Mikey Devlin’s first-half strike pulled Accies off the foot of the table.
In an action replay of their 1-0 win last October, Martin Canning’s men showed their survival instincts are alive and well as they somehow survived Darian MacKinnon’s red card and an onslaught – which included 21 corners – to overtake Inverness and go into ninth place.
Hamilton may only have racked up one win since their last triumph over the Dons but this was an evening of riding their luck and proving lighting really does strike twice in Lanarkshire.
As for Aberdeen? They only had themselves to blame for a display of penalty box impotence which brought their rampant recent form to a stunning and abrupt halt.
Hamilton welcomed back defender Georgios Sarris and Gramoz Kurtaj with Massimo Donati and Steven Boyd dropping out. But there was a place on the bench for playmaker Ali Crawford.
Aberdeen’s line-up also saw an alteration as there was no Jonny Hayes who failed to recover from a hamstring strain suffered in a weekend win over Ross County.
That absence was compensated by a start for on-loan Celtic kid Ryan Christie who carried the burden of creative duties.
The self-confidence from an Aberdeen side on a roll was evident from the opening seconds as they forced several corners which their hosts scrambled to clear.
It provided a false impression of what was to happen next as Hamilton surged into a ninth-minute lead.
A rash challenge by Christie on Georgios Sarris provided the long-range free-kick from Danny Redmond that led to Devlin volleying a right-foot shot past Joe Lewis from eight yards.
An on-field inquiry into who was picking up who commenced within an Aberdeen defence which had been breached so cheaply having conceded only three times in their previous six games.
Slowly but surely the Dons regrouped from their setback and Adam Rooney volleyed a corner inches past.
The striker came a whole lot closer in the 21st minute when he met Niall McGinn’s cross from the left only to see his header beat Gary Woods and rebound to safety off the keeper’s post.
Pressure continued to mount as
GORDON PARKS AT NEW DOUGLAS PARK