William Hill League One
New Central Park
Saturday 20th September, 3PM
Aaron Lynch
FT KELTY HEARTS 0-4 HAMILTON ACADEMICAL FC
After Stuart McKinstry’s last minute equaliser earned Accies a point against Peterhead last week, Hamilton looked to get back to winning ways as they took on Kelty Hearts at New Central Park.
John Rankin named an unchanged XI for this afternoon’s match as Steven Bradley and Marcus Syme returned to the squad from injury.
As for our hosts, they opted for five changes to the side that lost 0-1 to Stenhousemuir seven days ago.
KICK-OFF
Hamilton started with intensity and took the lead inside five minutes as Kyle Macdonald tried his luck from distance, unleashing a superb curling strike into the far corner.
Soon after Accies doubled their advantage as Connor Smith found space on the edge of the box and pulled the trigger, sending the ball looping into the top corner.
Accies almost made it three in the 16th minute as Scott Robinson surged into the box and fired the ball across goal, narrowly missing the oncoming Oli Shaw at the backpost. Moments later Hamilton were awarded a penalty. Oli Shaw stepped up and coolly slotted the ball into the bottom corner to make it 0-3 with 20 minutes played.
In the 33rd minute Kelty were reduced to 10 men as Aaron Arnott lunged in dangerously on Cale Loughrey, leaving the referee with no choice but to produce a straight red card.
SECOND HALF
Hamilton threatened to make it four in the 50th minute as Connor Smith’s sublime set piece delivery was met by Kevin O’Hara whose header struck the post.
In the 53rd minute Accies made it 0-4 as Connor Smith nicked the ball away from goalkeeper Ryan Adamson allowing him to finish into an empty net.
Kelty created their first big chance of the match in the 65th minute as Ricco Diack’s close range header flew just over the bar. In the 85th minute, Darian McKinnon replaced Scott Robinson to a resounding ovation from the away end.
The remainder of the game saw Accies control proceedings as they sailed their way to three points on the road.
