JAGS MAKE IT SOBS FOR FOYS
Ruthless Thistle hit the goal trail to leave Accies reeling
IT started and ended perfectly for Thistle but this was a torturous 90 minutes for Hamilton to endure.
Following an abject Accies performance that saw some home fans let rip at the full-time whistle, many others would have felt like crying at the Fountain of Youth Stadium.
Zak Rudden got the goal rush going for Thistle with a seventh-minute opener after he and Kevin Holt had both tried to get on the end of Cammy Smith’s corner.
It ended Holt’s night as he left the pitch bloodied after the clash but it was the beginning of a long evening for the home side.
Stuart Taylor’s side hung on in the opening period and had slowly appeared to be regaining their composure in the game as they headed towards the interval.
But after the break it was a different story as the goals just kept in coming for the Jags, much to the predictable rage of the home support.
Furious at what they perceived at a lack of quality on the pitch and lack of direction off it, they did not hold back as they either headed for the exists or vented their frustration at Taylor and the Accies board.
Thistle simply got on with it. If they were aware of the bedlam going on in the stands they were happy to add to it as they probed for weaknesses in totally ruthless fashion.
Jags manager Ian McCall said: “Football is a simple game, if you have seven or eight players playing well you’re going to win games and we were excellent for a 20-minute spell in the second half.
“I wasn’t aware of anything that was going on with their support. I was just focused on us and what we were doing.
“To win 6-1 in any game is pleasing. I thought the first half was even and Hamilton came into it.
“I told my players at the interval just to be more precise in the second half.
“We scored good goals but we’re disappointed to lose one at the end.
“It was a great win for our supporters too. I said at the start of the season we might not win anything this campaign but we will score an awful lot of goals.”
That was certainly the case in Lanarkshire last night. Once McCall’s men got their second of the night after the break they were relentless.
Brian Graham added the second of the night for the Jags before the roof thoroughly caved in on Accies. Richard Foster picked out the impressive Scott Tiffoney and he fired the ball across the face of the goal for Graham to net.
From there on it was a question of just how many as Thistle went to town and made the most of the chaos within the Hamilton set-up. Quick to scent the weakness they twisted the screw and then some.
Rudden added his second of the night after a composed finish and Thistle were keen to make the most of their night.
A one-two between Tiffoney and Graham culminated in the winger adding Thistle’s fourth.
As Accies realised it was not going to be their night, their discipline went out the window.
After a heavy tackle from Hamilton’s Andy Ryan, players from both sides clashed at the halfway line and following a spot of all-in wrestling, referee Euan Anderson dished out four yellow cards.
The melee didn’t put Thistle off their stride and in 73 minutes sub Connor Murray chipped in with the fifth after a decent run from inside his own half.
Graham netted the sixth as the ball fell kindly to him a yard out after the ball came back off the post. Sub David Moyo added a late consolation for Accies but it was an irrelevance by then with the home side well beaten.
Gutted Hamilton boss Taylor said: “It’s the heaviest defeat I’ve had and it doesn’t feel good. It wasn’t a nice experience to endure. It’s not good.
“The fans are angry but so are we. All we can do is try to work on getting it right. We’ll be back in tomorrow and will analyse it.
“All I can say is we will work towards doing our best to get it right because we know it’s not good enough.
“But it’s a long, long season. We had a bad night but you don’t give up after a bad game.”