Accies defender delighted with corner strike

Apr 9 2008 By Andy McGilvray

TONY STEVENSON was delighted to play a major part in Saturday’s 2-0 win over St Johnstone by scoring directly from a corner and setting up a second for David Elebert.

But the 19-year-old admitted he’s been slaughtered for not having scored from open play this season.

Tony took his season’s tally to three with Accies’ fifth-minute opener, while on February 23 the full-back scored with a direct free-kick in a 3-1 home win over Livingston.

But the talented right-back said: “I’ve been told to hit the free-kicks and corners, just to try and put them into areas for the big guys like Mark McLaughlin and David Elebert to attack, and on Saturday one went straight in.

“Maybe it was a bit of a fluke, but I’ll take it; if you don’t hit it into that area, it can’t go in.

“Big Davie got on the end of the other one, so it was pleasing to score two.”

And he added with a smile: “That’s me scored two goals straight from set-pieces in the last couple of months, and the lads are saying I can’t score a goal from open play!

“But I’ve scored with a corner and set up the second, so I’ll take the plaudits.”

Tony was well aware of how important Saturday’s win over St Johnstone was.

The New Douglas Park side have taken the lead against the Saints in all four games, but have ended up losing twice at McDiarmid Park.

And he said: “That’s a great result for us because every time we’ve played St Johnstone it’s always been one of the hardest games we’ve had all season.

“We were winning 1-0 at half-time up there, and they came back and beat us twice, so it was good to come out in the second half, get another goal and kill the game off.”

Stevenson admits he’s feeling the pressure of life at the top of the First Division, but insisted that no-one is worrying about any team other than themselves, because they do not need to: back-to-back wins over Livingston and Clyde will clinch the title.

He said: “The pressure is massive but we’re just taking it game by game, week by week, and if we go out and win our games we’re going to do it.

“But we’ve got to go to Livingston next week and hopefully get the three points there as well.

“It’s in our hands and we don’t have to worry about anybody else, that’s the good thing.

“If we win our next two games we don’t need to bother about Dundee on the last day.

“But we’re not thinking about Dundee, we’re just thinking about ourselves.”