10-man Hamilton managed to grind out a 3-2 win over Hearts in Reserve League action.
Hearts fielded a pretty young side, with Anthony McDonald returning to the Reserve side. Hamilton meanwhile had first-team options in Adrian Beck, David Moyo, Markus Fjørtoft, Ronan Hughes and Will Collar to choose from.
Accies had the lead inside the opening 25 minutes. Moyo broke through on goal and was able to comfortably place his shot passed Kevin Silva. A second was added by the striker ten minutes later, converting a header from Reegan Mimnaugh’s corner.
Euan Henderson hit back for the Jambos just before the interval with a nice curled effort into the bottom corner. He added a second to his account after some lovely play managed to get him behind the Accies backline, firing his shot low past Luke Southwood.
Collar was sent off for Accies but his teammate Beck won the game for the home side with just under 20 minutes to go. His low drive went beyond Silva and into the net. It moves Accies top of the Reserve League.
Here are four things we learned.
McDonald’s return
McDonald made his return to action on the flanks for Hearts in South Lanarkshire. He had made a switch to Dunfermline earlier this season but injury has troubled him thus far.
Against Accies he was pretty lively on the right flank, constantly driving at the Accies backline and nominating himself for set pieces.
Whilst he didn’t get a goal or an assist, it was good for McDonald to get some needed minutes against Accies following his injury.
Strikers at the double
Both strikers, Henderson and Moyo, were at the double for their sides. Hamilton frontman Moyo looked very sharp against the young Jambos.
His two finishes were clinical, keeping his composure when through on goal for the first strike whilst losing his man to head home for the second.
Henderson managed to take his finishes well too. He calmly curled his first into the corner before his second was blasted into the net.
Hearts adjusted to deal with the Hamilton experience
Hamilton fielded five players with first-team Premiership experience this season whilst Hearts had just two in Henderson and McDonald.
It was a telling factor at times, especially in the early stages of the first half. The young Jambos took a bit of the first half to get to grips with some of their experienced counterparts.
Once they did that though it made for a pretty even spectacle and Hearts were back in the game following the restart, but it wasn’t enough to secure any points.
Positive signs for both sides
For Accies there’s one big positive to take from the 3-2 win. Of the 18-man squad that faced Hearts, 11 of them were academy prospects.
As for the Jambos, they fielded plenty of young faces, with seven members of the U18s squad involved in South Lanarkshire.
Accies had six academy players on from the start whilst 16-year-old’s Arron Darge and Leon Watson featured for the Jambos.