Hamilton Accies 0-1 Saints

Saturday 9th December

Stefan Scougall was the hero as he scored his first goal for the club as Saints defeated Hamilton Accies 1-0 at The SuperSeal Stadium this afternoon. The only goal of the game came on 66 minutes when Blair Alston’s through ball somehow eluded two Accies players and Scougall pounced to drill it past Gary Woods.

MATCH REPORT

Saints headed to Hamilton today as they looked to bounce back from last Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at home to Hamilton Accies. Tommy Wright made five changes to the team that started out last weekend as Paul Paton, Liam Gordon, Liam Craig and Graham Cummins all dropped to the bench whilst Steven MacLean missed out due to the artificial pitch at The SuperSeal Stadium. They were replaced by Richard Foster, David Wotherspoon, Stefan Scougall, Michael O’Halloran and Callum Hendry, who was making his first start for the first team. Last Saturday Hamilton Accies earned a point when they drew 1-1 with Hearts at Tynecastle Park so Accies manager Martin Canning chose to go with the same team that started in Edinburgh.

Saints got the match underway but it was the hosts who got the first chance of the match on 9 minutes as a long ball up field by Darian MacKinnon was chased down by Darren Lyon who then lobbed it over Zander Clark, but his effort landed on the roof of the net.

Accies then created another chance on 17 minutes when Dougie Imrie delivered a cross from the left-hand side into the Saints box to Antonio Rojano but the striker somehow put his effort over from close range. Then on 20 minutes David Templeton saw his effort from 20 yards go inches past Clark’s right-hand post.

The home side continued to press and on 26 minutes Greg Docherty had a shot from about 25 yards that went over.

2 minutes later Saints had a shot at goal however, Richard Foster couldn’t get his effort on target. Then on the half hour mark a low shot by Blair Alston was saved by Gary Woods in the home goal.

Clark made a great save on 31 minutes as he saved a low shot from Ioannis Skondras and the Saints keeper got up quick to gather the rebound effort from Rojano.

On 38 minutes Murray Davidson saw his header from a Scott Tanser cross go well wide of the target.

Then just before half time Templeton had a shot at goal from outside the box that this time went inches past Clark’s left-hand post.

Saints were awarded a free kick on 47 minutes after Alston was fouled on the edge of the box. It was taken by David Wotherspoon however, his delivery into the box came to nothing.

Saints made their first change of the match on 58 minutes when Denny Johnstone came on for Callum Hendry.

However, Accies continued to dominate possession and MacKinnon saw his effort on 63 minutes blocked on the line.

The breakthrough for Saints came on 66 minutes when Blair Alston played the ball through which Imrie and Scott McMann both left to each other to clear. Stefan Scougall took advantage of the defensive error and the midfielder broke into the box before slotting a low shot past Woods much to the delight of the travelling Saints fans in the Spice of Life stand behind the goal. It was Stefan’s first goal for the club since joining in the summer from Sheffield United.

The hosts made a change on 70 minutes as Rakish Bingham came on for Lyons. Then 2 minutes later Accies created a chance as the ball broke to Templeton on the edge of the box however, he fired well over. The hosts must have been starting to think it was not going to be their day as with 9 minutes remaining Skondras fired well over.

Then a minute later the play quickly switched to the other end as Wotherspoon slipped the ball into Johnstone who hit the side netting.

The closing stages of the match saw Accies claiming for a penalty when the ball struck Joe Shaughnessy’s arm, but referee Craig Thomson waved play on. Then with 2 minutes remaining Xavier Tomas headed wide from a Skondras cross as Accies piled everyone forward.

Then as the match entered 3 minutes of additional time Tanser broke forward skipping past an Accies player before slipping the ball to O’Halloran but the attacker saw his effort at goal saved by Woods.

Overall, it was a battling performance by Saints as they secured the three points and brought Accies six-game unbeaten run to an end.

Hamilton Accies: Woods, Skondras, McMann, Tomas, Imrie (Cunningham 86), Docherty (Redmond 75), Templeton, MacKinnon, Rojano, Lyon (Bingham 70), Sarris

Unused Substitutes: Fulton (GK), Gillespie, Gogic, Donati

Booked: None

Saints: Clark, Tanser, Alston, Shaughnessy, Anderson, Davidson, Wotherspoon, O’Halloran, Foster, Scougall (Craig 76), Hendry (Johnstone 58)

Unused Substitutes: Mannus (GK), Paton, McClean, Gordon, Cummins

Booked: Davidson, Craig

Scorer: Scougall (66)

Referee: Craig Thomson

Attendance: 1,451

Match Report by Daryl Scott

Picture: Stefan Scougall scores the winning goal