MacPherson's men fail to capitalise on chances 'after Cerny sees red

0 Comments | Sunday Herald, The, Mar 22, 2009 | by Alison McConnell at New Douglas Park

Hamilton 0 St Mirren 0

AS results this weekend hint at the distinct possibility of daylight piercing through at the top of the table, so the clouds begin to gather at the bottom.

In the aftermath of a stodgy 90 minutes that neither side wanted to lose - as opposed to really wanting to win - St Mirren's point leaves them four above Falkirk, who continue to prop up the table, while Hamilton Accies have a little more room for manoeuvre.

Billy Reid's side remain in a respectable eighth position but had they taken some of their chances here they could have made life that bit more comfortable for themselves.

Instead, they could have been made to pay in the final minutes of this game after goalkeeper Tomas Cerny received a straight red-card for his body-check on Craig Dargo on the edge of the box.

With six minutes left on the clock, it was the visitors who could have snatched it.

Substitute Stephen McGinn had sent Dargo scampering through on goal and as he went to round the on-rushing Cerny, he was crudely upended. Despite the protests, led in chief by Accies defender Mark McLaughlin, referee Stephen Finnie showed no hesitation at hauling the red card out his pocket.

However, rather than taking advantage of their chance to steal the points, Garry Brady rolled the ball to Jack Ross, who ballooned his attempt high and wide and didn't even come close to testing goalkeeper Sean Murdoch, Cerny's replacement.

Truth be told, it was in keeping with the overall tone of the day. The game itself was a forgettable affair and set-pieces in particular were wasted all afternoon.

As has tended to be the case this season, James McCarthy was the stand-out for Hamilton. The teenager couldn't come up with any of the match-winning moments he has produced at various junctures of the campaign so far, but his importance to Reid's side remains irrefutable.

A first half of laboured torment was almost alleviated by a goal when McCarthy, playing in a roving role to the left of a three- pronged attack, jigged his way round Scott Cuthbert and hit a shot off the post. The ball rebounded to St Mirren goalkeeper Mark Howard, however, and the deadlock remained intact.

The second half kicked off with Hamilton claiming a penalty when Chris Swailes appeared to be tugged back in the box by Billy Mehmet.

There certainly appeared to be enough contact to knock him off course and Swailes was adamant in the aftermath of the game that Hamilton ought to have had a spot-kick.

"How the ref didn't see it is beyond me, " he lamented. "I don't know if he pulled my arm or pulled my shirt but the fact is that it stopped me getting to the ball. I don't know that it was a sending off or anything, but it was a definite penalty."

And the defender was equally irked by the decision to send off Cerny, who will now miss the game against Celtic when league duty resumes after the international break.

"It came when the game was on a knife-edge, " Swailes bemoaned. "Craig Dargo went to the left of the box instead of the right and if you look at it again Mark [McLaughlin] is back and I'm close to him so he would have a job to score from there."

Gus MacPherson, the St Mirren manager, inevitably took a different view.

Dargo has been on the bruising end of four such encounters this season - on two separate occasions against Celtic, involving first Artur Boruc and then Stephen McManus, and against Kilmarnock when Alan Combe clattered him.

So MacPherson was happy to see a bit of reward for the little striker's persistence.

"That is the fourth incident involving Dargo, but that is the first time there has been a red card, " he said. "It all comes down to the referee's interpretation of it. There have been a couple of similar incidents and maybe it was because we were playing Celtic, but that is the first time there has been a red card.

"I am not having a go, but there was no attempt to play the ball and if you don't get anything on the ball then it is a legitimate foul."

Hamilton

Cerny Canning Swailes McLaughlin Evans McArthur Neil Gibson Thomas Deuchar McCarthy

St Mirren

Howard Ross Potter Cuthbert Camara Thomson Mason Dorman Brady Dargo Mehmet

Hamilton substitutions: Paul McGowan for Deuchar 54, Jordan McMillan for Evans 76, Sean Murdoch on for McCarthy 83 Not used: Lyle, Quinn, Diatta, Mills Booked: Evans, 35, McLaughlin 57 Sent off: Cerny 82

St Mirren substitutions: David Barron on for Camara 63, Stephen McGinn on for Mason 71, Dennis Wyness on for Dargo 83 Not used: Mathers, Haining, Hamilton, McAusland Booked: Thomson 60

Referee: S Finnie

Att: 3072

FAST FOOTBALL

Entertainment value: Not brilliant. There were few chances of note and even less football on display.

Man of the Match: Inevitably James McCarthy.

The teenager did his best to enliven what was often a lifeless encounter.

Billy Reid: "We had six guys out there who were under-21 and I don't think there is any other SPL club trying to do that."

Gus MacPherson: "We didn't pass the ball well enough or quickly enough to create quality opportunities. Both teams had two or three chances but we are just trying to take the positives from it."