Rice insists Accies are up for survival scrap
LIVINGSTON 2 Emmanuel-thomas (16), Pittman (37) HAMILTON ACCIES 1 Brian Rice insists Hamilton still have the fight for a Premiership relegation scrap – despite going five games without a win.
Accies remain second bottom of the table – a point ahead of basement side Kilmarnock and three adrift of safety – after going down to this defeat at Livingston, who secured their top six place.
In a game of few chances, Lions striker Jay EmmanuelThomas scored a stunning opener before Callum Smith levelled.
But Scott Pittman restored the home side’s lead before the interval.
Rice, whose team host St Mirren in their final pre-split match next weekend, insists Hamilton will not wallow in self-pity.
He said: “The battle definitely goes on, I think you see that.
“It’s a really hard place to come to to get a result at any time.
“You could see the boys out
there battling for every ball, fighting their corner.
“We’re down to the bare bones and everybody out there is giving it everything they have got.
“That’s what you demand and that’s what it takes to be a Hamilton player. I thought we could have got a point out of the game.
“I think we cancelled each other out a lot, two poor goals that we lost but scored a terrific goal ourselves.
“The big man goal was a great finish but from my point of view, it was poor defending.
“I don’t think there was a great deal in it, I thought we deserved a point today.”
There was no shortage of effort from both sides during the early stages but there was a distinct lack of quality and goal-scoring chances.
All that changed in the 16th minute when EmmanuelThomas illuminated this encounter with a breathtaking strike.
The goal was similar to Thierry Henry’s stunning volley for Arsenal against Manchester United in 2000!
With his back to goal as Nicky Devlin rolled in a low pass to him in the box, the Londoner, who was on the Gunners’ books as a trainee, flicked the ball up and seamlessly turned to volley the ball into the top corner.
There were gasps from the
few inside the stadium who witnessed such a fine goal, it was just disappointing there were no fans.
But Emmanuel-thomas was partly to blame for the equaliser on the half hour mark.
The striker was dispossessed inside his own half, with the ball rolling to Smith.
The Accies forward advanced unchecked before rifling a low drive into the corner of the net from 20 yards.
Literally the only two moments of action in the final third had resulted in goals.
That theme continued eight minutes from the break when Pittman fired the Lions back in front.
Devlin’s cross bounced off the chest of Accies defender Lee Hodson, who was facing his own goal, and Pittman was left with the simple task of tapping in from a yard out.
The second half was just as tight. Accies pressed sporadically but in fact Livi were denied adding a third by the bar. Substitute Josh Mullin cut inside and curled an effort off the frame from 20 yards.
Rice, meanwhile, confirmed that defender Scott Mcmann missed the clash in West Lothian through injury.
He added: “He’s not trained since the Aberdeen game, he trained yesterday and thought he would be OK but it was not worth taking a chance.”