WASTEFUL KILLIE GIVE CLARK NO EXCUSES
KILMARNOCK boss Lee Clark admitted his team deserved to be knocked out of the Scottish Cup after a last-minute penalty from Rakish Bingham secured Hamilton’s passage into the fifth round.
But Hamilton, the better side throughout, claimed a late victory after Killie debutant Karleigh Osborne clumsily tripped Grant Gillespie and Bingham stepped up to convert.
It was a sorry way for Killie to mark the 20th anniversary since their Scottish Cup victory in 1997. With his team now without a win in seven games in all competitions, Clark offered no hiding place to his misfiring players.
‘We wanted to have a good cup run in a prestigious competition, but we’ve ended up going out with a whimper,’ said Clark.
‘We didn’t create enough. We let ourselves down in the final third. We have the leading scorer in Premiership history (Kris Boyd) and a striker who’s in high demand right now (Souleymane Coulibaly), but we aren’t creating chances for them.
‘Our set-plays are hitting the first man in the way. Without being disrespectful, the guys who come to watch us in the stand every week could do that.
‘There were some positives. Big Kris (Ajer) was outstanding, along with one or two others, but overall we didn’t do enough to deserve to win the game.’
Clark handed debuts to five of his new signings, with Freddie Woodman, Ajer, Osborne, Sean Longstaff and Callum Roberts all being thrown in from the start.
Three of them formed the core of Killie’s defence — Woodman in goal, with Ajer and Osborne as the two centre-halves — so it was perhaps no surprise that their unfamiliarity led to a shaky opening to the match.
It was even less of a surprise that it should be Ali Crawford who picked them apart, the midfielder operating at a level that made him comfortably the standout player on the pitch.
Killie had no answer to Crawford’s creativity on 14 minutes. He dinked an exquisite pass over both Ajer and Osborne for Alex D’Acol to latch on to, but he was far too hesitant and allowed Ajer to scramble back and make a good last-ditch tackle.
It was in keeping with a good debut performance from the 18-year-old, who has signed on loan from Celtic until the end of the season. But the reason he looked so impressive was because of how often he was called into action against an Accies side who were dominating midfield.
Killie’s best chance of the match came on 50 minutes, perhaps beginning the second period with a fly in the ear from Clark after how slack they had been.
Longstaff sent over a cross from the left. Roberts found a yard of space, but scooped his header on to the roof of the net.
The home fans were growing increasingly restless at how wasteful their team were with the ball; aimless punts up the park aimed at Nathan Tyson, then Boyd and Coulibaly.
As the game wore on, it was Accies who looked the more likely to find the opener. Crawford almost struck the winner on 86 minutes, his shot with the outside of his right boot forcing Woodman into an acrobatic save.
But their persistence told in the dying stages as, after Osborne fouled Gillespie, Bingham stepped up to calmly send Woodman the wrong way from the spot.
It was Hamilton’s first victory in 12 matches — a run stretching back to October 25 — with head coach Martin Canning saying: ‘It’s nice to get a win again, especially in these circumstances because we’ve been on the receiving end of a lot of late goals this season.
‘Dougie Imrie was down to take the penalty, but big Rakish was so confident and demanded the ball. It’s not an issue because he scored, but it might have been different if he missed.’