Hamilton Academical 3
Dundee 1
League (First Division)

Match Report

Dundee's fine six month unbeaten run in the league away from home came to a juddering halt in a dismal 3-1 defeat at Hamilton's New Douglas Park.

In spite of taking the lead through Ryan Conroy from a penalty that could most diplomatically be described as soft, Dundee barely threatened the Accies' goal again. The hosts came back strongly with goals from McLaughlin, McShane and Stewart, and fully deserved the points.

When Dundee were last here in December it was a miserable, cold, wet day and a greasy pitch, but a marvellous 6-1 win. Today it was a lovely Spring evening, a perfect pitch and a shocking performance.

Dundee's only change from Saturday was Jake Hyde starting instead of Carl Finnigan, who was missing from the squad.

There were early worrying signs when Dundee looked surprisingly vulnerable at the back, largely from giving the ball away in their own half.

Dundee's sloppiness gave Stewart had two opportunities to run clear of the defence but Douglas parried well each time.

Conroy nearly opened the scoring after 23 minutes with a lovely free kick, which cleared the defensive wall and rebounded from the post. That was pretty much the last moment to admire for Dundee supporters.

Dundee took the lead on the half hour with a controversial penalty. Hyde's flick gave Conroy the chance to race through the heart of the Accies' defence. A good first touch gave him space but his second touch was poor. Hutton raced out to block the ball, which spun loose, creating a scramble which was ended by the referee's whistle and a dramatic gesture towards the penalty spot.

The Accies players were furious, but when the referee had restored order Ryan CONROY tucked the penalty away.

Hamilton reacted strongly and forced the Dee onto the defensive. It took them just five minutes to equalise when Douglas failed to collect a corner dropping under his crossbar and Mark McLAUGHLIN turned the ball in.

If the first half was dull with little in the way of good football from either side there was absolutely nothing in the second half to cheer up the travelling support.

Only five minutes after the restart Dundee conceded another dreadfully soft goal, again from a corner. Redmond took it quickly, picked up the return pass and floated a deep cross beyond the far post. Kilday headed back into the goalmouth leaving McSHANE with an easy header to put Accies ahead.

Only a few minutes later Accies killed the game off with 35 minutes still to play. Routledge picked up a loose ball on the half way line and with the Dundee defence out of position he slipped a pass into the path of Mark STEWART who ran on to shoot past Douglas.

Sadly that was the end of the match as a contest. Apart from an optimistic McCluskey shot from the corner of the penalty area that clipped the top of the bar Dundee never came close to pulling a goal back. They were seldom in the Hamilton penalty area, and couldn't set up a chance when they did get there.

Far too many attacks ended with long balls aimed for Bayne, which were easy for the experienced Hamilton centre backs to deal with.

Hamilton didn't allow the Dundee midfielders any space, and the Dark Blues were incapable of making any for themselves. Most of the second half was spent frantically scrapping in midfield with Dundee players struggling to keep possession and failing to make passes that would worry Hamilton.

Fotheringham and McIntosh replaced McBride and Hyde with half an hour to play. It made absolutely no difference.

It looked like the match would drift to a dull conclusion, but in the last 10 minutes, instead of a Dundee fightback, Hamilton went looking for a fourth goal. McAlister's 18 yard volley was well saved by Douglas. That was probably the most disappointing aspect of the night. Most supporters would have expected Dundee to be pushing hard to get back into the game, but instead it was clear that the match had run well away from the Dark Blues.

This was probably the worst performance of the season. Dundee were ineffective in attack, largely outfought in midfield, and never comfortable at the back. Accies were sharper, more mobile and were far better at finding space in the Dundee half with their smart runs and passes. Mark Stewart, on loan from Bradford City, had a fine game and was a constant menace. The other standout in the home ranks was Daniel Redmond, a skillful wee midfielder, on loan from Wigan.

This really wasn't anywhere near an acceptable performance, and the supporters making the long journey back home will rightly feel very disappointed.

Match report written by James Christie - Official Dundee website