IT had to end some time.
Hamilton Academical have spent all week living the high life at the top of the SPFL Premiership table but this scrappy goalless draw against Kilmarnock offered a dose of reality.
Another point towards survival for the bookies' pre-season relegation favourites can hardly be classed as a disaster, but by the time the dust had settled Inverness had supplanted them at the summit of the league. It said it all somehow about Scottish football that one disgruntled punter in the main stand even had the temerity to jeer Accies off at the final whistle.
"I said before the game that we are just looking at points accumulated over the season," said player-manager Alex Neil. "That is us on 14 now, and unbeaten since our opening day defeat to Inverness.
"With the disruption we have had over the week, and having to take myself, Dougie Imrie and Jason Scotland off during the game, we were probably without seven or eight of our most experienced players by the end, so I was happy with a point. If you look at the team that finished the game it is probably as young a line-up as we have had in a long time."
Accies led the league on goal difference when the day began, but a strong-looking Kilmarnock side under Allan Johnston and Gary Locke promised a stern examination. However, perhaps the rise of the Accies shouldn't be such a surprise. Few Scottish clubs are more committed to rearing their own, and minus the suspended Darian MacKinnon, and injured Mickael Antoine-Curier, Jesus Garcia-Tena and Martin Canning yesterday, it was a testament to that to see them field four products of their youth academy along the back, all of whom have been patiently bled into first-team football.
Hamilton duly recorded a clean sheet, even if by the second half they had cause to be thankful to Michael McGovern - watched by his Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill.
Tony Andreu, the Frenchman imported via Livingston, is one of those asked to provide the imagination and he nearly caught Kilmarnock napping early on. He latched on to an early Danny Redmond pass, but his low shot on the swivel trundled wide. The home side generally played the more assured football in a cagey first half. Stephen Hendrie's low left-foot drive from fully 25 yards was palmed away by Craig Samson, who repeated the feat with an Ali Crawford drive.
The second half began to the sound of shinpad on shinpad as Neil and Jamie Hamill met in the mother of all 50/50s in the middle of the pitch. Oohs and aahs from crowd greeted the kind of epic old-school Scottish football collision that wouldn't have been out of place in Madison Square Garden, after which the ball might have required the use of a stretcher. Hamill got the better of it although Neil said ruefully that if he "hadn't been booked before that it might have been a wee bit different".
Kilmarnock had been informed in no uncertain terms that a similarly insipid second period would invite trouble, so it was little surprise that they should raise their level. First former Falkirk goalkeeper McGovern, denied Josh Magennis after the burly frontman robbed Ziggy Gordon out wide, then he beat away a low free-kick from another one of his countrymen, midfielder Sammy Clingan.
The best save of all came at the feet of Rory McKenzie, as the young winger hared on to a typically inventive pass from Kilmarnock substitute Alexei Eremenko.
It was McGovern's fourth clean sheet this season, which means he is nearly halfway towards his stated pre-season target of 10. "To get a clean sheet as a goalkeeper you are always happy," said McGovern, capped once for Northern Ireland, but currently behind Roy Carroll of Notts County and Alan Mannus of St Johnstone in the pecking order. "It is nice to get a run of them. I know Michael [O'Neill] was there, and know it can't do any harm."
The goalkeeper added: "While it was nice to be top of the league no-one really took it too seriously. At the end of the day we have just up so the No 1 priority is just to stay in the league."
Kilmarnock moved quietly up to fourth place, although Celtic and Dundee would both leapfrog them with wins today.
"I think overall if you look at the game a point apiece is a fair result," said the Ayrshire side's manager Allan Johnston. "In the first half they closed us down better, passed the ball better and had a couple of chances. But in the second half we were the better team."
Next up for both of these clubs is the League Cup. While Kilmarnock host St Johnstone on Tuesday, Hamilton are at home to Motherwell on Wednesday in the first of two meetings in four days.
Motherwell manager Stuart McCall was among the crowd at New Douglas Park yesterday and on this evidence, it might be prudent to prepare for extra time and penalties.
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