Kids are growing, says Cat

Jan 24 2013 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

Kevin Cuthbert praised his young Hamilton team-mates after they overcame “horrendous” conditions to beat Raith Rovers 2-0 at Stark’s Park.

Snow, swirling winds and a heavy pitch made conditions difficult but a Brian Graham own goal and a late Stevie May strike ensured a vital three points went back to Lanarkshire.

Kevin also played his part by saving Allan Walker’s second-half penalty.

‘Cat’ said: “Stark’s Park is a tough ground to go to no matter what time of year you go there, but the conditions were horrendous, atrocious, we used a yellow ball and it was absolutely freezing. We’re just delighted that we got the result and we could get back up the road!

“We need to keep our run going and it’s great to see how well the boys are doing. They’re growing as a team and as individuals.

“This is their first season for a lot of the boys and I think it was always going to be a difficult start, but now that we’re in mid-season, you can see how a lot of the boys have grown into their positions.

“To get these boys playing consistently well at their age —18, 19, 20 — is brilliant for us and hopefully they can continue their form, continue to do well and progress into next season, because that’s obviously what we’re trying to build towards.”

On his penalty save and overall performance, Cuthbert said: “My hands were absolutely freezing at half-time. In the second half, I had a couple of things to do right at the start, but if anything had happened at our end in the first half I don’t know what would have happened.

“If they had scored, it would have been a totally different game, so we’re delighted that we kept it tight at the back and scored our goals.

“It’s always going to be difficult with a penalty because everybody’s got their different ways of hitting them, but I just picked a side and made the save.”