Attendance : 824

Scorers ~ Accies : McPhee (27, 31), Aitken (90). Rovers : McManus (76), McAllister (78).

A spirited second-half fightback by Rovers ended in the most dramatic and disappointing fashion when a low shot by Chris Aitken crept in at Chris Fahey’s right-hand post with only seconds of the match remaining.

It was a cruel blow for under-strength Rovers who, after a first period of absolute ineffectiveness up front and dreadful defending, came out with renewed vigour and determination and shocked their hosts with two goals in three minutes.

In a fairly even first few minutes, Accies had a chance when Mark Corcoran, unchallenged, burst through the middle and fired for goal. Fortunately for Rovers however, the shot went wide. In ten minutes, Hamilton had three quick-fire chances to take the lead, but Carrigan’s shot was turned for a corner by Fahey, and when the kick came into the box, Andy Whiteford headed over the crossbar. Seconds later, the hosts did have the ball in the net, but the offside flag nullified the "score". Then, at the other end, Paul McManus had a try which was touched over by home ‘keeper David McEwan. In the 16th minute, a good Rovers’ move ended when a cross by McManus flew across the danger area without a friendly foot connecting with it.

Double For Accies

Accies took the lead in 27 minutes when a wayward header by Peter Cormack landed at the feet of the dangerous Brian McPhee out on the right. Faced with the advancing Fahey, he elected to chip the ‘keeper and the ball just sneaked into the net via the back post. Four minutes later, Hamilton doubled their lead when Andy Arbuckle, out on the right, slung a cross into the crowded box. It should never have been allowed to happen, but there, leaping above everyone else, was the diminutive figure of McPhee who almost casually headed his second past Fahey.

Rovers were on the rack - and it showed as Aitken ran through the bewildered defence to fire an excellent chance wide of the target.

At the interval, Rovers brought on Kevin McBride for new signing Steven Skinner who had been having a difficult time of things out on the left, and there were signs of an immediate improvement. Iain Diack created space out of nothing on the right, but his good cross was weakly headed by Kevin McAllister into McEwan’s arms. Around the 65th minute, Rovers were lucky when a goal-bound shot struck Andy Paterson, then Fahey made a great blocking save from a strong McPhee drive. Between these two incidents, Rovers had a chance, but the ball bounced awkwardly between Diack and McManus and was cleared.

Rovers Draw Level

Rovers were now having a much better time of things and after Graeme McCaul had fired wildly past and a Diack cross had been cut out, they reduced the leeway. Diack found McManus with a superb diagonal ball and the wee striker ran in to clinically slot the ball past McEwan. A couple of minutes later, Accies were rocked when McAllister, with a low shot into the corner of the net, notched up his first competitive goal for the club. 2-2, and we had a game on our hands!

In the 82nd minute, Rovers came within inches of completing a dream comeback when from a McAllister corner, David Farrell smashed in a wonderful drive which crashed off the face of the crossbar and was cleared. If that had gone in . . .

We were all settling for the obligatory period of extra-time when disaster befell the Cliftonhill lads. A poor header out of defence reached Aitken around the edge of the area, and some tricky footwork gained him just enough space to beat Fahey with a low bouncing shot.

Football can be a very cruel game, never more so than when it hits you in the teeth in this way. So, Rovers are out, but their performance after the break went a long way to cancelling out the forgetful first half.

Having now seen all competitive matches this season, the inescapable fact is that Rovers are extremely vulnerable at the back and manager Peter Hetherston is going to have to do something - and soon - to sort it out.

Man of the Match : Kevin McAllister, not only for his goal, but for his fine prompting.

Hamilton : McEwan, Arbuckle (Fitter 84), Hodge, Thomson, Whiteford, Sherry, Carrigan, Aitken, Corcoran (Paterson 74), McPhee, Bailey. Unused Subs : Gribben, Waddell, Jellema.

Albion Rovers : Fahey, Paterson, Farrell, Smith, Cormack, McCaig, McAllister, McCaul, Diack, McManus, Skinner (McBride 46). Unused Subs : Selkirk, McKenzie, Robertson, Swain.

Referee : Steve Conroy.

Man of the Match : Kevin McAllister