by Gilbaldo » Sun Sep 10, 2023 9:20 am
From The Belfast Telegraph....
Clinical Hamilton Academical ensured the defence of their SPFL Trust Trophy continued as they put waste Coleraine to the sword at The Showgrounds.
The game would just be 11 minutes old when the visitors took the lead as Lewis Smith seized upon a poor pass by Coleraine and burst into the box before arrowing an unstoppable effort into the bottom corner.
However, the Bannsiders would respond soon after as Matthew Shevlin held the ball up and picked out Lee Lynch who delightfully passed the ball into the bottom corner.
The Accies – who beat Raith Rovers in the Final of the competition last year – regained the lead on 48 minutes as Smith centred the ball for the grateful Dario Zanatta to finish.
Coleraine would then squander chances through Jamie Glackin, Lyndon Kane and Conor McKendry to bag an equaliser and paid the penalty as Jamie Barjonas settled matters on 82 minutes with a devastating finish.
After kick-off was delayed due to flight issues at Edinburgh Airport, Hamilton boss John Rankin was pleased to see his players reach the fourth round of the competition unscathed and leave the vocal away support delighted.
"Logistically this was the toughest tie of the draw for us,” he said.
"As soon as it came out it wasn't one I fancied as I knew it was going to be really, really tough.
"We were up at 5am this morning then the flight was delayed which led to the kick-off being delayed.
"At one point we were thinking, do we need to let them know that the game is maybe going to be off.
"But I think we had a duty to the supporters to put on a performance because they travelled in numbers to be here.
"There must have been about 250-300 fans here, so we're delighted for them to have come this distance and get into the next round.
"So the day didn't start well, but it certainly finished well. I thought the boys got better the longer the game went on.
"They are a decent side and we've had them watched three or four times. As I say, we knew they would dominate periods so it was a case of us trying to weather that storm.
"The goals came at the right time for us today to get ourselves in front albeit in my opinion we conceded a sloppy goal. We got back in front at a good time at the start of the second half.
"It was then a case of if we could be disciplined, retain our shape and make sure the distance between our lines is good.”
Bannsiders boss Oran Kearney believes the visitors’ killer instinct in front of goal was the big difference across the 90 minutes.
“It was enjoyable in terms of experience for our lads in a different competition and against different opposition,” he added.
“For big parts of it, I thought it was a really good game and I think both teams had plenty of opportunities.
“We can’t argue with that side of it and the difference between the two teams was when they got into those areas, they were very clinical.
“It’s something we talk about and feels like something we spend a lot of time working on in training but on a match day it’s those final choices that have a big impact in that.
“It’s frustrating because you feel we had more than enough in us to get something from the game but you’ve got to put the ball into the back of the net.”
COLERAINE: Gallagher 6, Kane 6, D. Jarvis 6, Kelly 6, A. Jarvis 5 (Devine 46 mins) 5, McKendry 6, Shevlin 7, Carson 7, Lynch 6 (McDaid 81 mins) 5, Glackin 6, Cole 6.
Subs not used: Deane, Mitchell, Wallace, McCrudden, Harkin, Gaston, Tejada.
HAMILTON ACADEMICAL: J. Smith 8, Longridge 6, Kilday 6, Henderson 6 (Tait 88 mins) 5, Martin 8, Zanatta 7 (O’Hara 64 mins) 5, L. Smith 8 (Hendrie 84 mins) 5, Murray 6 (Barjonas 64 mins) 6, MacDonald 6, McGowan 6 (O’Brien 64 mins) 5, Tumilty 6.
Subs not used: Fulton, McGlynn, McGinn, Hewitt.
Referee: Christopher Morrison
Match Rating: 6/10
Man of the Match: Scott Martin
