Hamilton Accies boss John Rankin admits his side’s second-half performance in their Scottish Cup win at Banks O’Dee was “unacceptable” but is happy to be in the fourth round draw.
A first-half double from Oli Shaw, taking his tally to 11 for the season, had Accies seemingly home and dry by the interval.
But their Highland League hosts threw everything at them in the second half and were rewarded as Michael Philipson halved the deficit just after the hour-mark.
Accies ultimately go into Monday night’s draw, but the win came at a cost, as defender Dylan McGowan dislocated a shoulder in an awkward fall, and was replaced by Kyle MacDonald four minutes before the interval.
Rankin told club media: “I don’t think the second-half performance, from our point of view, was acceptable, but I have to say we’re into the next round of the cup.
“Whether it took us to the first minute or the 90th minute, the main thing is getting into the next round of the cup.
“We knew it would be a tough game.
“I think in the first half we gave them the respect they deserved.
“I thought we hesitated at times in the first half to put the ball forward quickly, but ultimately we got two really good goals.
“I think Oli’s first goal is a terrific finish, it comes on the end of a decent move, and he obviously gets his second goal, which puts us in a decent position, going in towards half-time.
“We knew the second half was going to be a fight. The first 15 or 20 minutes, it wouldn’t be a game if Banks O’Dee didn’t throw everything at it, we knew that was going to happen, and we had to weather the storm.
“We got deeper and deeper in the game and tried to be safe. You have to give Banks O’ Dee great credit, they threw everything at it in the second half, went to a 4-2-4, tried to put balls into our box and make us defend that.
“Their goal, from our point of view, was sloppy
“But supporters always want a run in the cup, and we’re in the next round, so let’s see what the draw now brings.”
On McGowan’s injury, Rankiin said: “Dylan will be out for a period of time, he’s away to hospital in Aberdeen just now, and I feel for him. That’s him broken his leg this season and now he’s dislocated his shoulder, and it’s that curse of the right centre-back that we keep speaking about.
“Fortunately enough we had Kyle MacDonald available, who had trained this week and we were able to put him in that position.
“I felt the way the second half was going that we had to try and get Macca into a more central position to try and weather the storm and get a hold of the midfield again, so Barry Maguire went back in there.
“He had only joined in training this week, but the disruption to the back line was not ideal.”
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