| Date | Saturday, 14 March 2015 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish Premiership |
| Fixture/Score | Hamilton Academical 2:2 Ross County |
| Venue | New Douglas Park |
| Attendance | 1,544 |
| Referee | Craig Thomson |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the BBC. Hamilton Academical 2 Ross County 2 Ross County came from two goals down to salvage a point at New Douglas Park, consigning Hamilton Academical to their 10th consecutive match without a win. Jason Scotland tapped in from a corner and Dougie Imrie rifled a shot home to give Accies a handsome early lead. But a Craig Curran header pulled one back for County before the break, and a well-taken strike from Michael Gardyne levelled the scores on 71 minutes. The draw extends the Highlanders' unbeaten run to five games. If Hamilton were a team bereft of confidence, however, they certainly did not start like one, stroking the ball around with speed and precision. With four minutes gone, Ali Crawford won a corner with a low, curling shot well-saved by Mark Brown, and from Daniel Redmond's delivery, Scotland prodded home at the far post. County missed a glorious opportunity to level almost immediately, as a corner created panic in the home defence, the ball ricocheting off several pairs of legs before Scott Boyd fired over the bar from six yards. Crawford continued to look lively on the slick New Douglas Park surface, testing Brown again with another low drive. And it was the playmaker's sharpness of mind and fleetness of foot that sparked Accies' second, jinking and breaking from deep to free Redmond down the left. He sent Imrie galloping through on goal, and with the County defence scrambling, the winger was ruthless, slamming the ball beyond Brown at his near post. The Highlanders struck back on 27 minutes when Curran rose highest to power a hanging Raffa De Vita cross home from the six-yard line. Redmond dragged a shot wide from the edge of the penalty area on the half-hour mark after more dynamic midfield play from the hosts, and Jake Jervis missed a gilt-edged chance to level the scores when he nodded Martin Woods' cross past the near post from point-blank range. The second half began with the same vim and vigour as the first ended - the onrushing Marcus Fraser sliced a neat Gardyne cut-back wide for County, before Crawford again broke forward at pace and flashed a shot across the face of Brown's goal. The crestfallen Jervis was replaced by Darvydas Sernas as the visitors sought an equaliser, Curran's looping header cleared by the Accies defence. The hosts remained a constant threat on the break, however. Grant Gillespie made an important intervention in his own goalmouth, before brushing the side netting with a left-foot strike at the other end. But Accies' resistance would not last. Gardyne made the breakthrough for County, applying a clipped back-post finish to another De Vita cross to square the match with less than 20 minutes to play. The closing stages were, understandably, frenetic and lacking in quality, with neither side able to muster the cohesion and ruthlessness to fashion a late winner. Ross County manager Jim McIntyre praised his side's spirit after they came from two goals down to draw at Hamilton Academical. A header from Craig Curran and a 71st-minute strike from Michael Gardyne salvaged a point for the visitors, who fell behind in the first half. "The boys showed a terrific desire to come back," McIntyre told BBC Scotland. "When you lose two early goals like that it can be a long afternoon - the spirit was fantastic." The draw made for largely entertaining fare at New Douglas Park, with both sides moving the ball well. "I certainly feel we made very good goal-scoring opportunities and we should have been, to my mind, ahead at the break," added McIntyre, whose side had won their previous four league matches. "It's another point gained - any away point in the Premier League is never a bad result." |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Jim McIntyre |
| Starting 11 | 21: Mark Brown, 5: Scott Boyd 1, 9: Jake Jervis, 10: Filip Kiss, 11: Craig Curran 1, 12: Jamie Reckord, 24: Raffaele De Vita, 26: Martin Woods, 40: Michael Gardyne 1, 43: Paul Quinn, 44: Marcus Fraser 1 |
| Bench | 1: Antonio Reguero Chapinal, 7: Joseph Cardle, 14: Abdoulaye Meite, 17: Steven Ross, 20: Darvydas Sernas 1, 22: Ruben Palazuelos Garcia, 23: Graham Carey |
| Hamilton Academical | |
| Manager | Martin Canning |
| Starting 11 | Michael McGovern, Ziggy Gordon, Michael Devlin, Kieran MacDonald, Jesus Garcia Tena, Grant Gillespie 1, Dougie Imrie 1, Ali Crawford, Darren Lyon, Daniel Redmond, Jason Scotland 1 |
| Bench | Greg Docherty, Jon Routledge, Darren Hill, Eamonn Brophy, Nigel Hasselbaink, Louis Longridge, Martin Canning |