League One: Alloa Athletic fall to defeat in Hamilton

ANDY GRAHAM rued a slow start to the first half as Alloa went down to Hamilton.

The Wasps were searching for their first win of the season when they travelled to New Douglas Park - it was also the hosts’ first league game back at their home stadium following a spell in Cumbernauld.

Accies got their homecoming party underway as Cameron Blues scored the only goal of the game.

While Alloa looked much better in the second half, they could not find the breakthrough they needed to draw level.

“A tough result today,” Graham said. “First 45 minutes, we weren’t at it at all.

“It wasn’t a great performance. Hamilton didn’t create much.

“Our overall play in the first half wasn’t good enough. It looked like we lacked belief, we lacked character and that comes from me.

“I need to instil the belief in the players. Hamilton have had a couple of good results, maybe that plays into it a bit.”

Graham made one change from last week’s draw against East Fife, with Cameron O’Donnell returning at left-back as Joe Ellison dropped to the bench.

Calum Gallagher was expected to lead the line but was replaced late in the warm-up by Luke Rankin.

“Gal got injured in the warm-up,” Graham explained. “He felt his calf a bit and we’re not going to take any chances with it at this stage of the season.

“Ranks did well. He came in, fought his corner really well and got us up the pitch at times in the first half.

“He was tired in the second half, obviously, with the amount of work he was putting in.

“It’s always a blow when you lose a player in the warm-up but I think Ranks came in and did really well, so I’m not going to use that as an excuse.

“It certainly wasn’t that. It was just all over the pitch, too many people off the game.”

Hamilton controlled the tempo in the first 15 minutes as Alloa sat back and dealt with early crosses from the hosts.

Kyle Glasgow broke into the box after 16 minutes and was hauled down from behind.

Despite looking like a clear penalty, the referee, who had a good view of it, let play go on.

David Devine was a standout for Alloa throughout and made a vital block on Stuart Bannigan after Hamilton got the ball into the Wasps’ box.

Accies opened the scoring just as the away side began to settle into the half. Cameron O’Donnell slipped on the surface and the break was on, a couple of quick passes into the six-yard box allowed Blues to slot home from close range.

Hamilton almost had a second as Cian Newbury fired over the bar.

Alloa rallied with a long ball forward, a cut back by Rankin to Stefan Scougall, whose powerful shot was just wide of the mark.

Graham said: “It’s a slip for the goal. Cammy’s slipped over, there’s not much he can do for that, it’s not a mistake.

“We gave the same 11 the opportunity to go out in the second half and show us what they’re all about and I thought they did that.

“Second half, I thought we deserved to get something out the game.”

Graham made no changes at the interval and Alloa looked to be on the front foot from the whistle.

Owen Foster got on the ball at the back post and headed it down towards O’Donnell. The left-back was put under pressure and his effort flew over the bar.

The referee ignored another penalty appeal, this time from the hosts, while at the other end a Glasgow delivery was just inches too high for O’Donnell to steer on target.

Rankin pressed high and forced Lyness into an error as the goalkeeper’s heavy touch saw the ball ricochet off him and almost into the path of Alloa’s number 10. Lyness recovered and collected.

Graham continued: “We created a couple of really big opportunities to get the equaliser. We didn’t take them but I was very heartened by the second half performance.

“That’s what we’re about as a group and a team – the way we worked together, the passages of play, the way we moved the ball.

“In the first half, we didn’t look as confident as we have been on the ball.

“That’s disappointing from my perspective because it’s my job to give them that confidence to go and show what they’re all about – they did that in the second half.”

Graham rang the changes and brought on Josh Walker, Joshua Farquhar and Luke Donnelly as the Wasps pushed for an equaliser.

Walker’s free-kick was met by Devine, who ran forward but put too much power on it and sent it over the bar.

For the hosts, Steven Bradley sent a long-range drive whistling past the post.

Alloa threw everything at it in the final five minutes, but no equaliser meant Blues’ goal was the winner in Hamilton.

Graham added: “That’s more like us and that’s what we’ll be looking for moving forward. It’s frustrating because most of the season, that’s been the biggest gripe for me: we’ve turned up for a half, or a period in the game, or we haven’t turned up for a period in the game.

“I know you’re going to have spells, especially when you’re coming to Hamilton. I think we maybe showed them too much respect in the first half.

“Hamilton were good in the first half and they moved us about well, but I thought in the second half we really got to grips with it.

“We actually looked like the team that were going to get the equaliser – I know the game was a wee bit stretched at the end.

“If we had shown a wee bit more composure in that last 10 minutes, we could’ve got a couple of opportunities to get back in the game.

“As frustrating as it is, we have to take the positives from it. We have to look at that second half and go: ‘That’s what we’re capable of against a right good side.’

“We are more than capable of going and competing against every team in the league and we need to show that for 90 minutes.”