Too easy for Hamilton
Hamilton moved into the third round of the Scottish Communities League Cup with a comfortable 3-1 win over Alloa at New Douglas Park.
A stunning volley from Tony Andreu gave Hamilton an early lead only for Greig Spence to hit back for Alloa before half-time. Hamilton captain Martin Canning headed his side back in front before Louis Longridge and substitute Eamon Brophy settled any home nerves with two goals late on.
The home side started the match on the front foot, and almost took the lead inside two minutes. Danny Redmond exchanged passes with Andy Ryan to end a flowing move by bursting into the area and firing just over.
Accies were not to be denied for long, though, and they deservedly took the lead after 16 minutes. Redmond's outswinging corner was headed to the edge of the area where the waiting Andreu cushioned a fine volley into the top left-hand corner of the net for his second goal in as many games.
Alloa almost hit back immediately, Michael Doyle winning a free kick on the right that was swung in with pace by Ryan McCord. Stephen Simmons rose well to bullet a low header at goal from close range, but Michael McGovern produced a fine point-blank save to deny the midfielder.
The Wasps should have equalised after half an hour, Spence doing well to rob Mikey Devlin 30 yards from goal to find himself in the clear. With the ball on his left, Spence opted to try a toe-poke with his right foot and skewed his effort wide.
Spence did not dwell on the miss, though, and he levelled for the visitors after 40 minutes. Terrific play in the centre of the park by Graeme Holmes saw him sidestep two Hamilton players before threading a pinpoint pass through the Accies defence, where Spence latched on to the ball and curled a great finish high past McGovern.
Accies created the first real chance of the second half, Jason Scotland collecting a flick-on to drive into the box where his shot was blocked behind. From the resulting corner, they regained the lead in the simplest fashion.
Redmond's deep delivery again caused havoc in the Alloa defence, and Canning did well to hold off his marker and head the ball high into the net to again give the Premiership side the lead after 65 minutes.
Alloa had a couple of chances to get into good positions only for their final ball to let them down, and they were made to pay with 10 minutes to go as Accies moved further ahead.
Scotland ran into the right-hand channel and clipped the ball back across goal where Louis Longridge arrived late to bullet a header past Gibson.
A long ball from the back over the tiring Alloa defence then allowed the fresh legs of substitute Brophy to run in behind and finish coolly in the 84th minute to seal Hamilton's place in the 3rd round draw.
Source: PA
