Hamilton Accies draw 1-1 with St Johnstone

Dec 3 2009 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

STRIKER Mickael Antoine-Curier helped Hamilton grab a valuable point in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at St Johnstone, but was gutted not to score the winner.

On a personal note, however, the on-loan Dundee hitman was delighted to hit his fourth goal of an impressive SPL season, which helped move Accies up to 10th in the table.

Antoine-Curier said: “It was a hard game and it’s a difficult place to visit, but I was just disappointed that they equalised five minutes after I scored.

“The boys battled well and it wasn’t the prettiest game, but it was hard because the pitch was heavy and filled with sand.

“I think we have more talented people in our team but they couldn’t play on that surface.”

The Frenchman is hot on the heels of the top flight’s top scorers and said: “It’s good to have four goals because, as a centre-forward, you always want to be up there in the charts, and I just want to help my team-mates by scoring as many goals as I can.”

The striker said that whether he’s allowed to help Accies on a longer-term basis is up to the two clubs, but hinted that he has no problem is staying put.

He said: “That’s in January and we’re at the start of December, so anything can happen between now and then.

“I’m in talks with the manager and we’ll see, but, at the end of the day, I’m still a Dundee player and if anything is going to be done it’s got to be through them.”

Saturday’s clash in Perth won’t go down as an SPL classic but freezing temperatures won’t have helped and conditions worsened as the game ended in a monsoon.

The McDiarmid Park pitch played its part too, as it looked extremely heavy to play on.

Billy Reid started the game with one change; David Elebert preferred to Trent McClenahan in defence.

Saints made a whirlwind start and could have been ahead inside the opening two minutes, but Kevin Rutkiewicz’s flick on from a Danny Grainger corner was blocked by a combination of goalkeeper Tomas Cerny and Antoine-Curier.

Moments later, Grainger picked out Kenny Deuchar, but the striker’s header was straight at Cerny.

Hamilton went close on seven minutes when Richie Hastings’s corner from the right was met powerfully by Mark McLaughlin, but the defender’s header was deflected over.

Three minutes later, Deuchar tried to send Collin Samuel on his way through with a deft flick, but defender Martin Canning read the danger and cleared brilliantly.

Accies could have taken the lead in 14 minutes when Canning’s long-ball down the right was knocked down by Antoine-Curier to James McArthur, but the midfielder’s drive was inadvertently blocked by the striker, allowing keeper Graeme Smith to collect.

Hamilton did take the lead in the 24th minute when Hastings’ corner from the right was flicked on to the back post, where Antoine-Curier pounced to side-foot home from close range.

But, just five minutes later, Kevin Moon darted down the right and his cross was perfect for unmarked Filipe Morais to head the ball into the back of the net.

Antoine-Curier was back on defensive duty in 40 minutes to block a shot on the line amid a goalmouth scramble that saw a Morais effort deflected over.

But Hamilton could have regained their lead a minute before the interval when Marco Paixao’s powerful shot forced a good save from Smith at his left post.

Saints nearly took the lead three minutes into the second half when Davidson unleashed a powerful 25-yard shot that Cerny did well to punch clear.

The hosts should have led two minutes later when Morais floated a corner from the left wing to the back post, but Deuchar headed well over the bar.

Rutkiewicz came to his side’s rescue on the hour mark by deflecting an Antoine-Curier effort over the bar after a great cross by Hastings.

Accies were denied what looked like a decent shout for a penalty with 10 minutes left when Morais appeared to foul Hastings in the box, but referee Willie Collum waved away the claims as the game fizzled out to a draw.

Looking ahead to Sunday’s clash with Hearts, Antoine-Curier hopes to grab a memorable first strike against the Edinburgh side.

The former Hibs striker said: “Every time I play against Hearts, I go close but I have never scored against them.

“Hopefully, I can put in a good display and score the winner.”

ST JOHNSTONE: Smith, Mackay, Grainger, McCaffrey, Rutkiewicz, Morris, Moon (Millar, 68), Davidson (Johansson, 84), Morais, Deuchar, Samuel. Subs (not used): Main, Irvine, Craig, May, Durnan.

HAMILTON: Cerny, Hastings, Canning, McLaughlin (McClenahan, 90), Elebert (Beuzelin, 80), Wesolowski, McArthur, Neil, Mensing, M. Paixao (F. Paixao, 67), Antoine-Curier. Subs (not used): Murdoch, Evans, Kirkpatrick, Wilkie.

Referee: Willie Collum.

Attendance: 3426.

Man of the Match: TOMAS CERNY – didn’t have too much to do but his second-half save from Murray Davidson secured a point.

lHAMILTON have been drawn against holders Rangers at New Douglas Park in the Active Nation Scottish Cup fourth round.

The game will be televised live on Sky Sports on Sunday, January 10, at 12.15pm.

Neighbours Motherwell have been handed a trip to face First Division Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Saturday, January 9.