WHERE would Kilmarnock be without Kevin Kyle? The first division probably.
Having scored the goals that kept in them in the Premier League at the end of last season, the striker gave the strongest indication yesterday that he plans to continue in similar vein as a new campaign dawned.
Kyle was not the best player in the side but in front of goal he again demonstrated the clinical touch of a man whose career contains Scotland caps and appearances in the top flight of English football.
His goals, one in either half, came after an enterprising start from Hamilton but whose disjointedness after a summer of change became increasingly apparent as the match wore on.
Jamie Hamill added a third for the home side as Hamilton's resistance crumbled, but there was no doubting that the day belonged to Kyle, whose performance was all the more impressive given he had missed most of the pre-season with a stomach injury.
Were he to continue plundering goals at this rate a chance to add to his haul of nine caps would surely follow.
"I thought you might ask that," said Jim Jefferies, the Kilmarnock manager, as he analysed his striker's performance. Kevin is a goalscorer and a handful. All he can do is keep trying to play well. He's always a threat if you can get the right ball in to him."
Kyle has assumed the captain's armband for the new season and revealed it was this responsibility that cajoled him into temporarily forgetting his injury problems to lead the line yesterday.
"On Wednesday or Thursday I was thinking of telling the gaffer I just wouldn't be able to get through 90 minutes as I was struggling," he said.
"But I'm the captain and I'm supposed to be out there doing my bit for the team. So when I woke up in the morning I thought, nah, I'm playing." While Kilmarnock can reflect proudly on a good day's work from near the top of the league table, there remains much for Billy Reid to contemplate in the coming days.
His side showed ingenuity in the early stages and Richard Offiong went close to opening the scoring with a smart shot, but it will be the manner in which they defended, albeit without the suspended Martin Canning and Martin McLaughlin, that will cause the Hamilton manager most concern.
The worst culprits were Marvin Andrews and Izzy Iriekpen. The pair, making their competitive debuts for Accies, looked vulnerable any time Kilmarnock worked the ball forward to Kyle and Conor Sammon, their twin brutes in attack.
It seems inconceivable that Andrews, who in mitigation only returned from international duty with Trinidad and Tobago on Friday, and Iriekpen will be reunited in central defence by Reid any time soon.
The former Raith Rovers defender showed why he had been playing in the second division recently with a series of basic errors, while Iriekpen was no more convincing and fortunate not to be penalised after unceremoniously shoving the ever-dangerous Sammon to the ground in the box.
The pair were posted missing when Kyle volleyed the home side in front after 34 minutes and it was little surprise when Accies re-emerged for the start of the second half with three at the back.
The defensive reshuffle made little difference, Kyle capitalising on an Andrews' blooper just seven minutes after the restart to stride past Grant Evans and thump a spectacular shot high past Cameron Bell.
It would prove to be Andrews' last involvement in the match, the hook coming after 55 minutes, and it may be some time before we see the former Rangers man in a Hamilton shirt again.
However, removal, to be replaced by another debutant in David Louhoungou, did little to alter the visitors' fortunes.
Hamill looked to be offside when he fastened on to Sammon's pass after 68 minutes, but the flag stayed down and the midfielder calmly added a third goal.
Despite the heavy defeat, Reid was not too despondent. "It's been a test for us today but I saw plenty of positives," he said. "We're a bit down but we're not disheartened."
