GOALLESS BUT PLENTY GORE
Rossi fills the villain role for Hearts as Accies’ Garcia Tena also loses the plot
IT ended amid anger, accusations and opprobrium. When Hearts set foot in Hamilton these days, it seems there is no deviation from that script.
Five months on from Willie Collum erroneously sending Callum Paterson packing at this ground, it was the turn of Igor Rossi to take the long walk after the production of a red card by Bobby Madden.
Collum got that one wrong — a matter that led Robbie Neilson to state he had spent much of that week preparing with 10 men — but there was no such bleating from the Hearts head coach yesterday.
The Brazilian’s two-footed lunge on Hamilton’s Darren Lyon on the cusp of half-time was just about as reckless as they come. The full-back should be thankful that his side were able to show the necessary fortitude to dig in for a point in his absence.
Jesus Garcia Tena, the Hamilton substitute, was no less culpable for a ludicrous crunching of Arnaud Djoum that saw Madden send him packing with just three minutes remaining.
Although the final crime count was only a red and two yellow cards apiece, that was no accurate reflection of a game that was peppered with nips and niggles from the first whistle.
Darian Mackinnon, the tenacious Accies midfielder, was subbed at halftime by his manager Martin Canning for fear the booking he picked up in the aftermath of Rossi’s red would almost certainly lead to another.
Once the dust settles — and it may take some time — Canning’s frustration at seeing his side fail to fully capitalise on their numerical advantage for much of the match will be tempered by a sense of satisfaction at seeing a positive reaction follow the midweek humiliation at Celtic Park. After losing 19 goals in five matches, a clean sheet is something to smile about.
‘We’ll have ups and downs and the most important thing is how you react to a down and that’s a good reaction,’ Canning said. ‘I didn’t doubt there would be a reaction and the work-rate was there.’
For the Accies fans who sat to the bitter end of that thrashing at Celtic Park on Tuesday, an expectation of wholesale changes to the side was not realised. Surprisingly, the axe only fell as far as Greg Docherty and Grant Gillespie, with Dougie Imrie and Lyon promoted.
On the back of a Scottish Cup win over Aberdeen and a six-goal league thumping of Motherwell, Neilson had no such selection issues to agonise over.
Hamilton were certainly more compact and physical than witnessed for several weeks, although the bone-crunching foul Mikey Devlin perpetrated on Osman Sow 17 minutes in was just a tad excessive.
At least Canning’s side had shown a degree of composure in the final third by that point. Imrie did well to draw a foul from Miguel Pallardo. Ali Crawford bent a free-kick around the defensive wall to force Neil Alexander into a decent low block.
Accies’ defensive fragility was soon exposed. Pallardo’s out-swinging free-kick was carelessly ignored by the home side as it threatened to roll out of play. Rossi sneaked in at the far post and almost beat Michael McGovern at his near post. Paterson’s follow-up was gratefully smothered by the keeper.
The gusty wind blowing through New Douglas Park in no way excused the poor fare. Sow’s panicked shot while motoring in on goal and Prince Buaben’s clumsy effort from the left side had Neilson grimacing on the sidelines. Yet that was to be nothing compared to his mood at the break following Rossi’s dismissal.
His side could easily have been ahead when the game exploded. Ziggy Gordon failed to get the break of the ball 30 yards from his own goal, allowing Buaben to float a diagonal towards Gavin Reilly. His thumping strike was fisted away by McGovern.
A hitherto featureless affair roared into life seconds later. Rossi was on the edge of the Hamilton box when he needlessly lunged at the ball, his rashness and lack of control giving Madden no choice the moment the defender connected with Lyon’s leg.
Mackinnon, Alim Ozturk and Buaben also received yellows for their rather childish verbal contributions, with Mackinnon’s attempt to influence Madden the subject of Neilson’s ire in the tunnel.
Somewhere amid the chaos, Reilly was sacrificed by his manager, with Jordan McGhee drafted in. Dario Zanatta replaced Billy King at the break while Hamilton’s Docherty and Garcia Tena replaced Lucas Tagliapietra and — unsurprisingly — Mackinnon.
A degree of calm followed the storm. With the 10 men of Hearts content to sit deep, Imrie dumped a shot in the sidenetting before Paterson’s alertness prevented Alex d’Acol converting Lyon’s cross.
Sow’s pace on the counter remained a concern for the home side but the tackle of the day belonged to Antons Kurakins — his clinical sliding challenge taking the ball before the gangly Swede.
Notwithstanding their numerical advantage, Hamilton were a different proposition to the rabble that capitulated at Celtic Park. From a poorly defended corner, Devlin had a net-bound shot blocked. From the next phase of play, his meaty header forced Alexander into a fine save.
Hearts too, might well have pinched it. Some delicious footwork by Ozturk turned Devlin inside out with Blazej Augustyn’s flashing header rebounding off the bar.
At the other end, Gordon’s peach of a cross deserved better than for d’Acol to mistime his jump.
With five minutes remaining, Imrie sprawled to the deck claiming a penalty for a foul by Buaben. Replays showed the infringement was outside the box, however. Canning’s dismay was compounded seconds later when Garcia Tena’s ridiculous scything of Djoum led to the second dismissal of the day.
There was still time for Zanatta’s header to crash off the bar and for McGovern to bravely deny Juanma from converting from six yards.
‘It was probably the most eventful game you’ll get without goals,’ Neilson reflected. ‘I didn’t feel we were under too much pressure and we were also a threat on the break.’