D’Acol urges fans to keep faith with Canning
NEW YEAR is traditionally a time for fresh starts. Out with the old, in with the new. That was certainly the feeling in Hamilton on Hogmanay but there was precious little seasonal goodwill to be found towards under-fire manager Martin Canning.
In a thrilling conclusion to a compelling Lanarkshire derby, a 93rd-minute leveller by Louis Moult had just rescued a dramatic point for 10-man Motherwell. The goal stopped Hamilton recording a badlyneeded first win in 11 matches. The Accies are now on an abject run of just one victory in 17.
And as 2016 drew to an end, the new beginning many of the furious Accies fans were demanding to see in 2017 was regime change in their own dugout.
Police officers had to stop supporters showering Canning with vicious abuse, then one man turned and made a foul mouth plea for the Press to spread the word that it was time for Canning to go.
Afterwards, though, Accies goalscorer Alex D’Acol pleaded with the irate fanbase to remain behind their manager and his team, who sit precariously placed just one point off the bottom of the Premiership.
‘When results are not going well, every fan is going to be angry,’ said the Brazilian forward.
‘And anywhere you go in the world, the first target when things are not going well is the manager.
‘But we have to stand by the manager. He is experienced and he will keep working to put this right.
‘We just have to keep working hard to give the fans the three points that they want. ‘I couldn’t believe the match ended like that. Nobody could believe it. ‘We are all frustrated at losing a late goal but it was everyone’s fault. Yes, we played really well but when that happens and you don’t get what you deserve then you feel frustrated. ‘It definitely feels like a defeat. It doesn’t feel like we got a point. It feels like we lost three points.’ This was an engrossing blood and thunder derby packed with goalmouth action and petty feuds from the start. Accies had goalkeeper Gary Woods to thank for not falling behind immediately when he spectacularly saved a point-blank header by Scott McDonald. Lee Lucas then flighted in a ball to the back post that Moult headed goalbound past Woods but up popped skipper Mikey Devlin on the line to save the day. But the game turned completely midway through the first half when Lucas was rightly red carded for an awful two-footed tackle on Massimo Donati.
After that, Hamilton dominated and Ali Crawford had the ball in the net after the break, only to be denied by an offside flag.
But Accies finally turned their numerical superiority into a goal when Crawford placed the ball on D’Acol’s head to open the scoring. The excitement and relief across the home players was palpable.
But Motherwell battled impressively with ten men and Moult should have done better than head straight at Woods from a Richard Tait free-kick. The Well striker then forced a terrific save from the Accies keeper with a thumping low shot.
Then came the moment Accies will rue when Crawford’s goalbound shot was cleared off the line by Stephen McManus.
And with the clock ticking down, the inevitable happened for a team that has now squandered 24 points from winning positions this season.
Carl McHugh sent over a fine cross from the left and Moult was left unmarked by the entire Hamilton defence to head home and spark a whole team pile-up in front of the delirious away fans.
Asked if Accies are suffering from psychological frailty when it comes to letting leads slip, D’Acol simply shrugged.
He said: ‘We can’t let that get into our minds. We have to keep working and doing our best to play football and try to forget the psychological stuff. We need to stay together, stay strong and stand by each other.
‘I think when you get to the end of the game and they are putting the ball in the box, it’s natural to be under pressure.
‘We were trying as hard as possible not to concede the goal. We also should have killed the game off but we didn’t do that and Motherwell got the result.
‘The fact is we need to start winning. We need to start getting three points soon because draws won’t be enough (to keep Accies safe from relegation).
‘We worked so hard to win against Motherwell. We can’t just accept that this type of thing happens in football. We have to put it right in our next game.’