A first meeting between Highland League side Banks o’ Dee and Championship based Hamilton Academical was in order as the Lanarkshire side made the 150 mile journey up to Spain Park in Aberdeen.

The recent Aberdeenshire Cup winners were looking to beat Championship opposition for the first time their short history as a senior side, with Hamilton looking to avoid any upset with a first win in three games.

Both side fielded strong teams, with Oli Shaw and Kevin O’Hara leading the way for Accies, combining to score 11 in the league so far. Lachie MacLeod started up top for The Dee, with scorer in the final Michael Philipson behind him in attack.

Referee Graham Grainger got the game underway, which saw a bright start for Banks o’ Dee. Mark Gilmour and Liam Duell had spells on the ball down the right hand side, which was well defended by Accies. Connor Smith would get the first shot off for the away side, which was easily collected by keeper Daniel Hoban. More early chance fell to the away side, with O’Hara beating Mark Reynolds before firing straight towards Hoban from a tight angle in the 20th minute.

A deserved opener fell to Accies, with a clever move finely finished by Shaw in the 28th minute. Stephen Hendrie lofted the ball over the defender, finding Shaw who headed the ball beyond the grasp of Reynolds. He dived into the box and smashed the ball past Hoban and into the far top corner from 15 yards.

The Dee reacted well and looked for a quick equaliser. A great opportunity fell to Reynolds after a free kick, which he managed to steer goal-wards but only into the hands of Charlie Albinson. Hamilton looked eager for more however and dealt a blow to The Dee with Shaw’s second of the match. A deep cross from Steven Bradley was met at the back post by the striker who nodded home from close range on the stroke of half time.

Half time: Banks o’ Dee 0-2 Hamilton Academical

The second half brought more action from the home side, who pushed hard for a way back into the game. They would win a free kick around 30 yards from goal, with Iain Vigurs stepping up. His thunderous effort was nudged onto the post by a scrambling Albinson. Accies’ clearance only went at far as Philipson, who drilled the ball towards Kane Winton. The captain scuffed his chance however, to the relief of Hamilton.

Andrew Hunter was introduced on the hour mark and instantly made an impact, driving into the Accies box, holding the ball up for Philipson who ran in and drilled the ball into the bottom left corner. Banks o’ Dee looked rejuvenated after the goal and looked set for a second. Philipson was involved again but couldn’t keep his curled effort under the bar.

Despite relentless attacks from Banks o’ Dee, nothing could quite test Albinson and time started to trickle away. Dee substitute Max Alexander came close in the 77th minute, holding the Accies defender at bay before a powerful strike well pushed away by the keeper. Hamilton made a defensive switch and started to slow the game down, not before Banks o’ Dee had a golden chance to equalise. The ball fell to Alasdair Stark near the penalty spot after a corner, with his first time strike rolling painfully wide.

The 90 minutes came and went and Banks o’ Dee looked beaten. A late corner tempted Hoban up to the opposite box but Hamilton managed to clear their lines. That would be all at Spain Park, with the final whistle confirming Hamilton’s progression to the forth round.

Full time: Banks o’ Dee 1-2 Hamilton Academical

It was hardly a convincing win for the Championship side but the result is all that matters in the Scottish Cup. Banks o’ Dee will be disappointed with how many chances they squandered, but pleased with matching a high calibre side for large spells of the game.

I caught up with Hamilton’s goalscorer, Oli Shaw:

‘Hamilton were pushed quite far there by Banks o’ Dee, how relieved are you to get the win?’

‘Delighted to get through, that was our aim coming up here. We knew it would be a tough game, but to get through and to score two goals was the most important thing.’

‘It’s the first time Hamilton has ever played against Banks o’ Dee, how did the team prepare against an unknown side?’

‘We’ve been looking at video footage over the past week and tried to identify what their strengths and weaknesses are. We knew it would be tough up here, we get ourselves ahead well in the first half but followed with a poor second. The most important thing was getting to the next round and we’ve done that, regardless of performance.’

‘A couple of poor results was followed by the weather-induced cancellations last week- how important was it to respond well?’

‘We weren’t at our best today, you could maybe tell we’ve not played for a fortnight. A bit sluggish at times but we got the win, and how we can build on it for next week.’

‘Thinking now of the next round, do you look to face any of your previous Premiership teams, or a home tie?

‘We don’t look for anything in particular, a home tie would be good, but ultimately it’s the cup so anything can happen, no matter who we play we’ll have the attitude that we can win the game, just like Banks o’ Dee did today. We’ve got league business first too so hopefully today’s win can put us on a good run.’

Match Facts

Goals:

Banks o’ Dee	Hamilton
62′ Philipson	28′ Shaw
	45+1′ Shaw

Bookings:

Banks o’ Dee	Hamilton
	56′ Hendrie
	85′ O’Hara

Substitutions:

Banks o’ Dee	Hamilton
60′ MacLeod ↓ Hunter ↑	38′ McGowan ↓ MacDonald ↑
69′ Philipson ↓ Alexander ↑	60′ Bradley & McKinstry ↓ Barjonas & Henderson ↑
80′ Gilmour ↓ Antoniazzi ↑	77′ Smith ↓ Maguire ↑