[Report by D Kavanagh] The Accies travelled to unbeaten Ecclesfield Vets and were unlucky not to come away with a much deserved win. The match kicked off late as both teams waited for the ref to finish shopping, but it was the Accies that started brightly on a difficult pitch. An early chance fell to Brian as Jamie’s deft flick put him through on goal but after seemingly going round the keeper the ball bobbled a bit allowing the goalie to claw back a save. This seemed to rally the Vets as they started to push forward and assert more pressure without really carving out any clear cut chances. The back 5 were all having good games, Batts was reading everything, Ryan made a couple of good clearances with his left foot, Bondy and Reedy were dominating in the air against an awkward forward and Stan was having his usual solid game. Jamie crunched their massive midfielder which forced him off and the Accies began to enjoy more possession again. Brian was sent clear again this time by Alex but scuffed his shot a little. A few minutes later though he made no mistake as Alex again sent him through and he smashed it into the far corner, arguably the hardest chance of the 3! The pitch was difficult and Hodgy, Matt and Jamie were doing well to control the middle of the park and get it over the top for the forwards and out onto the grassier areas. A few dubious challenges were going un-seen by the referee and it could have descended a couple of times but the Accies showed a great attitude and went into half time focussed and with a deserved lead. Half time 0-1 The second half continued in the same vein. Ecclesfield were pushing forward through their useful right back and left midfielder but the defence were winning everything and no chances were created. Against the run of play the Vets won a free kick on the edge of the box and a hopeful low strike hit a couple of players, wrong-footed the Accies keeper and nestled in the bottom corner. The Accies rallied again though. Daz came on for Alex and showed a couple of good touches. Then a great footballing move involving several players found Matt Glendenning on the left side of the box, his reverse ball to the onrushing Stan was perfect as Stan smashed in a low cross that the Vets defender finished superbly with a quality strike into the near top corner. No less than the Accies deserved. Swifty came on for the hardworking Brian and continued to pin back the Vets defence. However they were getting forward down the right side and a cheap free kick was rolled back to their full back who lofted a hopeful ball into the Accies box. It was half cleared and the Vets forward swung a hopeful foot at it and it flew into the bottom corner. A really hard goal to take as they had not carved out a chance in the whole game, their relief was evident. A point away at an unbeaten side is still something to be proud of but it could have been a win.
