Oak’s cut down
George left gutted as County’s last-gasp leveller denies him
George gutted he missed out on being Hamilton’s match-winner
GEORGE OAKLEY thought he was on course to be Hamilton’s matchwinner on Saturday – only for Ross County to plunder a late equaliser to snatch his moment of glory. The striker hadn’t netted since the end of August but broke his scoring drought when he drilled a low shot past Ross Laidlaw to put Accies ahead midway through the second half. That looked set to hand Brian Rice’s men their first win in five attempts and ease their relegation worries. But County kept going and substitute Brian Graham stung Accies with a strike after 88 minutes to earn his team a point. And there was more Hamilton heartache to follow when Scott Martin was sent off for an attempted butt in injury time. Oakley was pleased to get back on the scoresheet after Lewis Smith had cancelled out Billy Mckay’s opener after just 36 seconds. But the big Englishman admitted the sheen had been taken off the strike with Accies failing to win.
He groaned: “That felt more like a defeat. I was speechless for a while afterwards as I felt we had done so well in the game.
“In the first half we had a lot of possession but didn’t make a lot of things happen. But in the second half we came out and felt they were there to be beaten. “We knew we just had to come out after the break and be right at it. And that’s what we did. We scored two good goals and just had to see out the game. “But one ball in kills us and they end up nicking a draw. “That was my first goal for a few games and it was something I had wanted really badly. I want to keep doing my bit for the team so it was nice to play my part. I thought I was going to be the matchwinner.
“I was almost 100 per cent certain of that going into the last few minutes. But it wasn’t to be.
“We had a lot of the ball and have to learn to kill teams off. I don’t know how many deadballs, corners and free-kicks we had. We have to start making them count in matches.
“But that’s football. Sometimes it can be so beautiful and at other times it can be so cruel.”
Oakley also insisted he’s no diver after he was shown a yellow card for tumbling in the box just minutes before his goal.
He said: “It wasn’t a dive. I had the ball and was starting to fall but tried to keep my footing. And then I was sandwiched by defenders and went over. When I stood back up I wasn’t looking for a penalty.
“I was pointing to the ref that the first contact happened outside the box.
“But he thought I had dived. I tried to explain that to him but once they’ve made their decision you can’t get on their case.”
Oakley was at least glad to see Accies finding the net again after drawing a blank at home to Aberdeen in their previous game.
He added: “We’re upset at only coming away with a point but at least we’re scoring again.
“Creating and scoring chances has been a big problem for us so to get two at the weekend was important. But it’s about getting a balance in the team.
“In other games we’ve defended well and came away with draws. Now we need to get the right mix.”