Spartans prove up to Challenge of Accies

Published on Monday 20 July 2009 11:51

SPARTANS lifted the Ronnie Swan Challenge Cup at their new Ainslie Park Stadium after defeating Hamilton Accies 2-0 in an entertaining final which culminated in young Chris Smith scoring a stunning goal, his first for the club.

The final was very competitive and with Spartans leading through a Dean Hoskins goal, Smith gathered the ball wide on the touchline, left a Hamilton defender stranded and took off on a solo run. His pace took him through on goalkeeper Tomas Cerny who he rounded confidently before slotting the ball into the net from an acute angle.

Smith, who graduated from the Spartans youth structure, was pleased with his contribution. "I just managed to keep the ball in play and saw space in front of me," he said. "I then ran as fast as I could thinking that I would be caught and when the goalkeeper came out I sorted my feet, got around him and slipped the ball into the net.

"It was good to get a run-out and I am working hard to try to get a starting place."

Hamilton, who had defeated Raith Rovers 4-1 in a penalty shoot-out after a 2-2 draw to qualify for the final, rarely threatened Chris Flockhart in the Spartans goal with Dan Gerrard and new signing Kevin Sivewright more than matching Hamilton's strikers Mark Corcoran, Tony Stevenson and Gary Gow. Keith McLeod brought out a good save from Cerny as did Smith while another new signing, Sean McAuley, also shot over from a good position.

This was Spartans' first ever victory against a club from the SPL and head coach Mike Irving was delighted with the weekend's work after defeating Blyth Spartans 4-3 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in the opening game. Hoskins, with a bullet header, and Michael Moffat were the goalscorers while the sudden-death penalty winner was notched by Adam Perry.

Irving said: "I was delighted with the way we played against Blyth because we had a clear tactical plan which meant we had to defend well and we did that exceptionally well. I didn't expect us to be two up within 20 minutes although that gave us a platform to go out and play and allowed us to make changes at half-time when we played with two up front.

"We were unlucky to lose goals and then we had the lottery of penalties where Chris Flockhart made a brilliant save to help us through to the final.

"It was then great to play against an SPL side – we spoke beforehand about their pace and movement. We tried to be patient and compact and not give the ball away. In the last 20 minutes we were keeping the ball and Chris showed great composure to round off a superb weekend. We wanted challenging games and we got them so we are delighted to come out on top. However, it is just part of a bigger picture as defending our Premier Division title will be hard."

Billy Reid, the Hamilton manager, said: "In the first game against Raith, where we fielded two different teams, we were given a stern workout and against Spartans we fielded a younger side. We wanted to win and we played to win but it was not our day and Spartans were worthy winners. It was a good exercise for us and we have no complaints."

In the third/fourth place play-off Raith defeated Blyth 4-2 with Mark Ferry and Lee Bryce edging the Kirkcaldy side ahead before John Alexander and Adrian Webster brought Blyth back on level terms. Allan Walker and Bryce, with his second, sealed the win for Raith whose manager John McGlynn said: "The two days gave all of our players a great work-out. We were delighted to be invited and the exercise allowed us to give some of our younger players time against Blyth who gave us a good test. Obviously we were happy to win because winning breeds confidence. Overall, I was also delighted for Spartans who are putting so much into the community in north Edinburgh."

The only downside for Spartans was that midfield player Alex King suffered a double fracture of his jaw against Blyth while Gavin Malin dislocated his shoulder against Hamilton.

The Spartans squad over the two games was: Flockhart, O'Donnell, McKibben, Fowlie, Gerrard, Manson, Moffat, Malin, King, Henretty, Hoskins, Sivewright, McAuley, Opilka, Smith, Perry, Mitchell, Johnson and McLeod.

Results:

Ronnie Swan Challenge Cup semi-finals: Raith Rovers 2, Hamilton Accies 2 (Hamilton won 4-1 on penalties); Spartans 2 Blyth Spartans 2 (Spartans won 4-3 on penalties)

Third/Fourth Place Play-Off: Raith Rovers 4, Blyth Spartans 2

Final: Spartans 2, Hamilton Accies 0