Smith delivers payback to his parents for all their sacrifices

LEWIS SMITH hails from a background where writing headlines comes more naturally than making them. His father is the former editor of the

Herald newspaper, his mother an award-winning broadsheet features writer who this month chronologued the traffic jams, sacrifices and heart-rending emotional turmoil involved in producing the latest product of the Hamilton academy. It was a labour of love at times. Already a Scotland Under-21 international, Smith is the product of four generations of Accies fans and, on the evidence of a mature display against Celtic, the payback for the hours of standing on soulless, windswept touchlines and paternal fretting is already coming. ‘I am very grateful for everything my parents have done for me,’ said the 19-year-old winger (below). ‘They have always backed me over the years and anything I can do to pay them back will make me really happy.’ Ask any parent and they’ll tell you that the only reward they seek is for their offspring to be content and accepted. Yet, amongst Hamilton directors, aspirations for Smith are rather higher than that. Taking the game to Celtic with no fear in only his eighth first-team start, they whisper now of bigger clubs watching. A fixture at New Douglas Park since the age of six, Smith himself seems happy enough playing for Hamilton under manager Brian Rice. ‘Definitely,’ he insisted. ‘He (Rice) always talks to you and says if you keep working hard you will get your chances. That’s been true. ‘George Cairns (head of youth academy) is always speaking to you and keeping you motivated if you are not playing. This year I am grateful that I have been playing.’ As a coach at Inverness, Rice worked with Ryan Christie before his move to Celtic. And Smith’s display against the Parkhead side reminded him of Christie at the same age. Embarrassed by the comparison, the teenager said: ‘I think I have wee bit to go for that, but that’s really nice. ‘It was good today because that is ultimately where you want to be, that level of player. They are all Scotland internationals so hopefully one day I will be, too.’ He was more comfortable talking about the team’s performance than his own, adding: ‘You are never happy with a defeat, it does not matter if it is 1-0 or 3-0. ‘In the end, we could have nicked it if the ball had fallen for us or we got a bit lucky. It was just not our day today. ‘When we conceded the first goal it was important that we stuck in and did not concede another one quickly. ‘We did that well, we stood up and were counted. Then in the second half the gaffer allowed us to be a bit braver and take the game to them and I thought we did that.’ As the last half hour beckoned with a single goal in it, Hamilton cut loose. They were still in the game and Rice put on new German loan signing Adrian Beck and powerful striker Marios Ogkmpoe to shake things up a bit. Laying out £7million defender Christopher Jullien after a collision, Ogkmpoe took the instructions to heart. ‘Losing an early goal is never going to be good but against Celtic of all teams it is not going to be easy,’ added Smith. ‘You can crumble or you can stand up and be counted and I thought we did that really well. ‘The gaffer said yesterday if you don’t believe you can take something from this game don’t bother coming in. But I don’t think that was ever really an issue with us. ‘It was a shift. I was glad the gaffer had faith in me to play me. You want to play in every game but especially these ones. I thought I did okay.’ After a ropey, worrying 3-0 defeat to Ross County on the opening day, Hamilton now have a win and a draw after their first five games. The annual battle to prove the relegation tipsters wrong continues against St Mirren next weekend. ‘There’s more optimism after the first game, which was a bit shaky,’ said Smith. ‘We have dealt with the pressure so far and have a big game next against St Mirren. ‘Proving the doubters wrong is something that makes it even better.’