Richard keeps eye on the ball

May 10 2007

HAMILTON’S top scorer Richard Offiong insists he’ll blank speculation linking him with a move elsewhere... because it just means he’s doing his job.

In a season hampered by suspensions and injuries, the English hitman has found the net 16 times, putting him among the First Division’s top scorers.

That is obviously going to attract interest, but 23-year-old Offiong recently signed a long-term deal at Hamilton Accies and is happy with life at New Douglas Park.

The striker said: “I try not to pay attention to any of the speculation, I just want to focus on playing football.

“It’s been a good season, I’m really happy that I’ve been given a chance here at Hamilton, and I’m delighted with all of the goals I’ve scored.

“I’ve really enjoyed it at Hamilton, everyone has been great, and I’ve really enjoyed my time here.

“Everyone’s been fantastic, and I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”

It’s been a good season for Richard and Accies, and the striker reckons Hamilton haven’t been given enough credit for their fourth-placed finish.

He said: “We lost 6-0 to Gretna on the opening day of the season and we’ve had really bad injury problems, so to finish fourth was really good.

“The Press had us as relegation favourites, and we turned that around with a young squad, so I think we need to give the lads a lot of credit because they’ve done really well this season.

“When it came to the SPFA Player of the Year awards and things like that, I was surprised that nobody on our team even got a mention, because we’ve done really well to get this far with such a young team and a small squad.

“But never mind, we’re not in it for accolades – we just want to win games and get as high up in the First Division as we can.”

Offiong was delighted with his wonder-strike in the 4-3 defeat to St Johnstone on the last day of the season, and hopes Hamilton will be challenging for honours next term.

He said: “I was happy with the goal and it meant I ended the season on a high.

“I put the ball straight into the top corner and the keeper couldn’t even move, but when the ball came to me all I could think was ‘I’m going to hit this as hard as I can’ – I wasn’t trying to place it or anything.

“As soon as I hit it, I knew it was going in, so I was really pleased with that, and it set up a bit of a grandstand finish, but I was just annoyed that it hadn’t been my second goal and we pushed St Johnstone closer.

“I had a chance just before that when I was one-on-one with Kevin Cuthbert and tried knocking it under him, but my touch was just a bit too heavy.

“But I got man-of-the-match as well, so I must have been doing something right!”

Offiong added: “It was a good match, I really enjoyed it, and that’s the kind of game you want to be involved in.

“Hopefully next season it will be us challenging for honours, because we’ve got a good squad.

“For now though I’m just looking forward to a break, to be honest, because it’s been a long, hard season.”