Hamilton denied a vital win as Dons fight back for a point.

Mar 11 2010 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

FLAVIO Paixao this week voiced his frustration at only drawing against Aberdeen.

The Portuguese hitman grabbed his third Hamilton goal – Accies’ first SPL strike at home in 2010 – but felt that his side deserved all three points.

And he said the New Douglas Park club are in a false position, second-bottom of the SPL.

Flavio (25), said: “I’m not very happy. It was a very disappointing result because we worked very hard and I went home thinking about it because I couldn’t believe we didn’t win.

“Only one team deserved to win, everybody could see that. We played some great football, created a lot of chances but lost a silly goal because we switched off for a second.”

Flavio added: “I did my job well on Saturday and I try to do my best for the team in every game I play – but we have 20 players here who all do the same, and everybody wants to play.

“Hamilton doesn’t deserve to be in this situation, people could see that against Aberdeen. We will work hard and try to improve.”

Accies would have reason for feeling aggrieved not to have taken all three points from the game as they dominated and played some lovely stuff at times, but the lack of cutting edge again returned to haunt them.

In 17 minutes Dougie Imrie and Brian Easton linked well down the left, with the latter’s chip just too far ahead of Paixao at the far post.

Five minutes later Simon Mensing sent David Van Zanten chasing a delightful through-ball, but the defender shot past the right post.

Mensing and James McArthur linked in 36 minutes to set up Paixao, but he could only find the left side-netting.

Hamilton were denied what looked like a stonewall penalty in 39 minutes when Mensing was denied a chance to latch onto Easton’s floated free-kick by a blatant push by Jim Paterson.

But Aberdeen nearly took the lead against the run of play in 40 minutes when dead-ball specialist Charlie Mulgrew saw his netbound free-kick brilliantly saved by Tomas Cerny.

Aberdeen showed much more purpose at the start of the second half and in 53 minutes Steven Maclean ghosted past Mark McLaughlin down the right before sending a dangerous ball across the face of goal, but there were no takers.

Sensing that his side was likely to be without joy, Accies boss Billy Reid threw on striker Mickael Antoine-Curier for Van Zanten in 59 minutes – and it changed the game almost immediately.

While Dons defenders were busy watching ‘MAC’ at an Easton corner in 62 minutes, Paixao was unmarked and free to head into the net.

Dons struck back and Martin Canning’s intervention prevented Gary McDonald from levelling following good work by Richard Foster in 64 minutes.

A minute later Imrie played a neat one-two with Mensing before sending a shot inches past the left post.

Aberdeen should have been down to 10 men in 69 minutes when Diamond took Imrie out of the game with a shocking waist-high challenge. The Dons defender was looking at the ball rather than the player, but got nowhere near it and should have been shown a straight red – to the disbelief of most of the 2030 crowd, referee Stephen Finnie saw fit to only caution Diamond.

Six minutes later Imrie made inroads into the box only to be fouled by Richard Foster – again no penalty.

And insult was added to injury for Accies in 76 minutes when a Mulgrew free-kick was knocked down by Maclean for Diamond to slot home.

Aberdeen could have gone into the lead in 84 minutes when sub Darren Mackie raced down the right, but his cutback was brilliantly cleared by Neil.

Then Accies could have taken the points on a few occasions late on. In 87 minutes Imrie darted down the left, cut the ball back to Flavio Paixao, but after checking inside the Portuguese hitman sent his shot inches over.

Two minutes later McArthur’s perfectly-weighted cross looked perfect for David Elebert to head across goal into the bottom left corner, but cleared the upright by a few inches.

Seconds later McLaughlin headed across to his defensive team-mate, but Elebert’s shot was cleared off the line.

HAMILTON: Cerny, McLaughlin, Canning, Elebert, Van Zanten (Antoine-Curier, 59), McArthur, Neil, Easton, Mensing, F. Paixao, Imrie. Subs (not used): Murdoch, McClenahan, Evans, M. Paixao, Crawford, Riley.

Booked: McLaughlin, Mensing, Elebert, Canning.

ABERDEEN: Langfield, Mulgrew, Foster, McDonald, Diamond, Paterson, Kerr, Maclean, Young (Mackie, 72), Paton, Aluko (Megginson, 87). Subs (not used): Nelson, Duff, Marshall, Ifil, Jack.

Booked: Young, Paton, Diamond.

Referee: Stephen Finnie.

Attendance: 2030.

Advertiser Man of the Match>: Flavio Paixao – most assured performance yet and took goal well.