HAMILTON ACAD 2 KILMARNOCK 1 They say youth is wasted on the young. No-one has thought to tell James McCarthy.
Hamilton Academical's 18-year-old midfielder has flourished in his debut season in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League and his goals against Kilmarnock on Saturday could go a long way to ensuring Billy Reid's side stick around for another year.
The Lanarkshire side have never enjoyed back-to-back seasons in the top flight and if they manage to do so this term McCarthy will deserve a large pat on the back for his role in such an achievement.
Of course, it would be wrong to attribute the results to one player. Reid has crafted a side that appears to be a decent mix of youth and experience and, in lads like McCarthy and James McArthur as well as Alex Neil, they have a squad of players eager to show their worth in the top flight.
The biggest headache for Reid, as other Premier League managers have found to their cost in recent times, is hanging on to a decent crop. McCarthy was being linked with move further afield before he had even turned 16 and it is inevitable that the club will part company with him further down the line. How far away that may be is difficult to tell, but recent performances suggest he is ready to step up a level.
Neil, though, believes that the Republic of Ireland under-21 internationalist can continue his development under Reid at New Douglas Park for another year at least.
"He has to go to the right place with the right manager who will take care of him and make sure that he keeps developing," Neil said. "With the game the way it is, when you are taking touches you are getting bashed and kicked so to actually take that shows courage and even at a young age you can see he has that.
"I thought his first goal for us was sublime the way he nicked it round a few players and basically got us the three points.
"People have to come in and offer what we value James at and then it is down to James and whether he reckons that club can help him develop. If not then he will stay with us.
I think he has developed great this year and I don't think it will do him any harm to stay for another year, but it is down to himself and what he wants to do."
For Jim Jefferies, life is not so sweet. His side have found themselves embroiled in a fight for survival after being dragged into the mix at the bottom of the table.
Just three points separate them from bottom-placed - but in-form - Falkirk, who they face on Saturday at Rugby Park in a game that will have a major bearing on who goes down.
The Ayrshire side were a sorry lot against Hamilton, with no threat up front and no guile in the middle of the park. Manuel Pascali and Kevin Kyle will return from suspension next weekend and Jefferies remarked: "Kevin will be the first name in my team-sheet, I can tell you that right now."
Whether it is too late for the former Sunderland and Scotland striker to make his mark remains to be seen.
