Dumbarton 1 - 3 Hamilton Accies: Crawford and Devlin light up Accies’ night

THIS four-times postponed tie beat the weather last night and it was worth the wait as Accies hit two wonder goals in a win that secures them an away tie at Dunfermline in the next round.

SCORERS:

Dumbarton - Turner (59)

Hamilton Accies - Crawford (25), Devlin (39), Gillespie (75)

Ali Crawford chipped home a delightful first and Michael Devlin curled home a fine second before half time with Grant Gillespie adding a third after Chris Turner had brought Dumbarton back into the tie, with Turner sent off before the end.

Accies started well and an intricate passing move released Gary Fisher on the right hand side of the home box and his shot flashed past Stephen Grindlay only to come crashing off the bar. Dumbarton’s first glimpse of goal came 13 minutes later when Bryan Prunty wriggled clear at the edge of the area, but his shot flew high over the bar and out of the ground.

A minute later Hamilton took the lead when Fisher passed inside from the right wing and Crawford sent a delicate chip over Grindlay from 20 yards via the underside of the bar. The second came six minutes from the break when a sustained period of Hamilton pressure saw the ball fed out to the left wing for defender Devlin and he curled an effort high over Grindlay.

It was nearly game over before half-time with Jon Routledge inches away with a shot that came bouncing back off the bar and Darian MacKinnon seeing a header saved by Grindlay.

MacKinnon missed the chance to make it three eight minutes into the second half when a delightful pass from Alex Neil sent the striker clear on goal, but he sent a tame effort straight at Grindlay. Dumbarton made the most of the reprieve when Turner rose to head home a Mark Lamont cross from the left in fine style on 59 minutes, but their route back into the game lasted only 16 minutes.

Hamilton grabbed their third when substitute Grant Gillespie ran onto a pass from Crawford to send a shot looping over Grindlay with the aid of a deflection off Andy Graham.

Gillespie’s goal sparked off an ugly period in the game with Turner receiving his marching orders after going head to head with Neil who seemed very fortunate to remain on the park.

Dumbarton: Grindlay, Devlin, McNiff, Graham, Lithgow, Turner, Fleming (Gilhaney 46), Agnew, Lister, Prunty (McDougall 71), Lamont. Subs not used: Forsyth, Thomson, Ewings.

Hamilton Accies: Cuthbert, Gordon, McGlinchey, Canning, Devlin, Routledge, Crawford, Fisher (Gillespie 69), MacKinnon (Ryan 83), Neil (Kirkpatrick 81), Longridge. Subs not used: Fraser, Christie.