THIS was a great advertisement for the First Division as Accies demolished the Pars with a brilliant first half performance to extend their lead at the top of the League. Richard Offiong grabbed his first senior hat-trick to make it three league wins
out of three for Hamilton in matches against the Fifers this season.
Dunfermline have been on the up since Jim McIntyre took over from Stephen Kenny a few months back, but they were well and truly outclassed. The visitors didn't play too badly in the opening spells but, defensively, they were all over the place at key periods. You had to feel some sympathy for Sol Bamba in the 13th minute, though, when he was adjudged to have felled David Graham in the box to give Accies a soft penalty award. Offiong made no mistake from the spot, sending Paul Gallacher the wrong way.
The Englishman added his second 10 minutes before the break when Brian Easton burst down the left from his own half to tee-up a tap-in for Offiong. Then, moments prior to the interval, Offiong tapped in his third.
Hamilton's supremacy continued after the break and Offiong missed two great chances to add to his tally of 18 for the season. Referee Stephen Finnie, however, wasn't having his best afternoon and produced a flurry of yellow cards despite this not being the dirtiest of clashes. The only bad note for Hamilton was McArthur going off with a suspected broken nose following a clash with Bamba.
The full article contains 268 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
