Hamilton 3 - 0 Aberdeen

Hamilton claimed all three points at New Douglas Park after a poor Aberdeen performance. They fell behind on 15 minutes when Andreu punished slack defending to prod the ball home beyond Langfield. Accies doubled their lead 7 minutes after half time when a challenge on Logan went unpunsihed- the home side broke up field and the ball was played into the box towards Andreu who finished well.

The Dons dominated the closing stages but couldn't score- sub Shankland forcing McGovern to save well from a header but the home side rounded off an emphatic win in the 90th minute when Anotine-Curier slotted confidently past Langfield.

A night to forget for Aberdeen.

Match Report

Derek McInnes made two changes to the side which defeated Dundee last time out before the international break. Jonny Hayes as expected returned from injury, what was not expected was the appearance of Ryan Jack who came back from injury earlier than expected. Pawlett and McGinn dropped to the bench.

The Dons lined up in a 4-4-1-1 formation with Langfield in goal, Logan at right back, Taylor was partnered in central defence with Considine whilst Reynolds moved to left back. In midfield Hayes was on the left side, Flood and Robson were in the middle with Jack on the right. Rooney played furthest forward with Goodwillie in behind him.

A light but steady downpour half an hour before kick-off helped slick up the artificial surface and the fact the home side were used to the plastic pitch certainly seemed to give them an advantage early on. After two minutes Hamilton broke after some strong tackling in the middle of the park. Danny Redmond played a great little chip over Considine for Imrie to run onto but thankfully Reynolds read the danger and came over to cover at the expense of a corner. A minute later the league leaders won a second corner but Langfield punched clear. Then after more good play Redmond played over an enticing ball from the left but Langfield gathered the low cross.

On 6 minutes Goodwillie won the Dons their first corner. Robson whipped in a great ball which Considine was not far away from. Back came the home side though and on 9 minutes Hamilton again worked the ball down the left and after a kind bounce Antoine Curier collected at the back post. He played the ball back across the face of goal but thankfully Flood was there to clear.

The Dons were struggling to deal with the pitch and energy of the home side.

Hamilton then took the lead. Ash Taylor failed to get enough on a back header after Antoine Curier had flicked it on. Imrie latched onto it and although his shot was blocked by Langfield, the ball broke across the face of goal and Tony Andreu was able to thump the ball into the empty net.

Hamilton were then wrongly awarded a corner by ref Clancy but thankfully Robson did well to head clear. On 21 minutes Hamilton again broke at pace down the left and the move looked very dangerous but the ball incredibly was blocked by Considine and rebounded all the way through to Adam Rooney who reacted quickly to turn his marker and the striker was clear through on goal. Adam steadied himself but his low shot across the keeper was easily saved by McGovern.

Even on an artificial surface the ball should not behave in that way.

A minute later the Dons had an even better chance when Goodwillie was through on goal but McGovern saved again. A chance wasted. Shay Logan then put over a good cross which Goodwillie could not quite connect with and in the end was penalised for a push in the back.

On 28 minutes a long ball bounced over two Aberdeen defenders and Antoine Curier was through but Langfield did well to get out quickly and make himself big. Again it highlighted how difficult the surface is to deal with at times and how unpredictable the bounce is. On 35 minutes Imrie fired over a cross from the right which Curier met but instead of heading the ball goalwards he headed it backwards. A let off for the Dons.

A few minutes later Willo Flood was booked after being incensed by a hand ball decision. Willo clearly felt the ball had hit his face and not his hand. He was not backward in making his feelings known to Clancy. It was a shame because the Dons had a two on two. On 41 minutes a superb reverse pass by Hayes put Goodwillie in down the right. He crossed for Rooney who got to the ball but from a tight angle but could not get any power into his shot and McGovern was able to smoother the ball. On the stroke of half time the Dons almost paid the penalty for trying to play the ball out from the back. Considine gave it away and Ali Crawford had a shooting chance but his low shot was straight at Langfield.

As the half wore on Aberdeen were beginning to match Hamilton's aggression and energy and they were slowly getting a footing in the game but they would not have been too disappointed to hear the half time whistle only one down, despite the great chances for Rooney and Goodwillie.

HT 1-0

Not unexpectedly the manager changed things during the interval. Andrew Considine was replaced by Peter Pawlett with Hayes going to left back and Reynolds moving into central defence. The exchanges at the start of the second half were very physical. Gillespie was booked for a foul on Robson and then Redmond booked for a foul on Jack. On 51 minutes Robson's free kick found Reynolds in space at the back post but his looping header landed on the roof of the net.

Then on 53 minutes Hamilton scored a second. Goodwillie and Rooney almost combined on the edge of the area but a great last ditch tackle prevented David getting a shot away. Logan then tried to win the ball back but he lost out in a 50-50 challenge although he appeared to be fouled. With Shay out of position Hamilton exploited it by racing down the left. Redmond had all the time in the world to look up and his cutback was slammed into the bottom right corner by Andreu who finished well.

On the hour mark Crawford very nearly found Curier with a ball across the face of goal. Aberdeen were hanging on but only just.

The Dons were trying to get themselves back into the game but could get nothing going in the final third of the pitch. Hamilton were still being very aggressive in the tackle and on 65 minutes Garcia Tena was booked for a foul on Pawlett.

On 68 minutes Derek McInnes made another change with Robson being replaced by McGinn. Niall's first involvement was to put over a corner which found Jack but from the edge of the area he put the ball just over the bar. A few minutes after that Flood picked out McGinn at the back post and he played a great header back across the face the goal but nobody in a black shirt could get on the end of it.

On 71 minutes Imrie was booked for a poor tackle. Devlin was then lucky to stay on the pitch for taking out Jack. Aberdeen made a mess of the resulting free kick but Hayes was brought down so they were given another chance. This time McGinn floated the ball over the wall but his effort just went past the post with McGovern beat. Moment later McGinn had another chance from almost the same area after yet another foul but this time he just put the ball over the bar.

With ten minutes to go Jack was booked for a foul which was astonishing considering some of the tackles that had gone unpunished before.

Aberdeen pushed hard in the final minutes to mount some kind of grandstand finish but with Hamilton now sitting in protecting their lead they struggled to create anything of note. In fact it could have got worse for the Dons had it not been for a good block by Taylor from Curier's shot.

Lawrence Shankland was given a run out in the final few minutes, when he replaced Rooney. Lawrence forced McGovern into a very good save at his near post from a header but in truth this was a game which the Dons did not deserve to get anything from and Accies had the final word when Crawford picked out Antoine Curier who volleyed home to make it three.

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Team News

Derek McInnes makes two changes to the side that defeated Dundee 3-2 in their last outing. Out go Niall McGinn & Peter Pawlett to the bench. They are replaced by Jonny Hayes and Ryan Jack who return from injury.