HAMILTON’S stadium is named after a cannabis oil company.
But, Accies fans might need something just a little bit stronger if they have to put up with much more of this.
Andy Barr – The Sun Glasgow
Martin Canning’s aim of getting off to a flyer went to pot at the renamed Hope CBD Stadium.
It was Hearts who were smoking at one of their happiest hunting grounds.
HAMILTON: Gary Woods 5, Alex Penny 5, Shaun Want 5, Ziggy Gordon 5, Scott McMann 5, Dougie Imrie 5, Darian MacKinnon 6, Rakish Bingham 6, Darren Lyon 5, Mickel Miller 6, Sam Kelly 6
Subs: Tom Taiwo (Lyon 63) 3, Ross Cunningham (Imrie, 71) 3, Jason Bloomfield (Bingham, 78) 3
HEARTS: Zdenek Zlamal 6, John Souttar 7, Aaron Hughes 6, Christophe Berra 7, Callum Morrison 6, Ben Garuccio 6, Peter Haring 8, Olly Lee 6, Steven Naismith 8, Uche Ikpeazu 6, Steven MacLean 7
Subs: Jake Mulraney (Morrison, 71) 3, Bobby Burns (Garuccio, 71) 3, Kyle Lafferty (Ikpeazu, 76) 3
MAN OF THE MATCH
Craig Levein has made a raft of summer signings, but the stand-out player in his team remains Steven Naismith.
Peter Haring also had a blinder, but when it comes to game intelligence the experienced striker was miles ahead of anybody else.
Clever, cunning and still with plenty to offer. Won and then tucked away second half penalty.
MAN IN THE MIDDLE
It’s fair to say Andrew Dallas is not the most popular official in Scotland and he was again harangued by both sets of fans.
That is becoming a regular occurrence, yet the whistler actually had one of his better days.
Brave decision to let opening goal stand and didn’t reach for his pocket every time there was a foul. Got penalty decision bang on.
MEN IN THE DUGOUT
Craig Levein will be delighted the way his team weathered an early storm before cruising to an emphatic victory.His new-look team is starting to take shape.
Martin Canning was left tearing his hair out after watching his side make a string of catastrophic blunders.
A Premiership debut double from Peter Haring and goals from Steven Naismith and Steven MacLean helped the Jambos to a fourth straight win at the Lanarkshire venue.
Accies took an early lead through Mickel Miller, but they were undone by a string of defensive errors on their shiny new pitch.
Andy Barr – The Sun Glasgow
They forked out a whopping £750,000 for a state-of-the-art artificial surface after the previous carpet was rated the worst among Scotland’s 42 senior clubs.
Hamilton upgraded as they do not want to finish bottom of the pile this season.
However, they will require a vast improvement on this opening day shambles if they are to avoid another relegation dogfight.
Yet, it had all looked so encouraging for Accies, who were fastest out of the blocks against Craig Levein’s new-look Hearts.
Supplying front duo Mikel Miller and Rakish Bingham with quick ball they had the visitors on the back foot.
A cutting edge in the final third was the only thing lacking as they put Hearts back-three under constant early pressure.
But, with 17 minutes on the clock they did find their shooting boots.
Aaron Hughes looked to have the situation under control as they ball arrived at his feet on the edge of the six-yard box.
Andy Barr – The Sun Glasgow
Yet, much to his displeasure he was bundled to the floor by Miller, who promptly prodded the ball under the body of Zdenek Zlamal.
Hughes appealed for the foul as did the rest of his team-mates along with the Hearts bench.
Their pleas fell on deaf ears as referee Andrew Dallas waved them away.
Nine out of ten officials would probably have given the defender the benefit of the doubt.
But, football remains a contact sport so fair play to Dallas for allowing the goal to stand.
Hamilton did not have long to enjoy their lead as the Jambos response was fairly swift.
Less than 60 seconds later Gary Woods was forced to produce an outstanding stop, tipping a bullet, close-range Christophe Berra over the bar.
From the resulting corner Accies marking was slack as Haring had a header cleared off the line by Alex Penny.
Andy Barr – The Sun Glasgow
Reprieved twice in a matter of moments it was not to be third time lucky for the hosts when Steven Naismith fired the ball back into the danger area.
Once again Haring found himself in space, but this time the Austrian midfielder would not be denied, firing a perfectly placed downward header beyond Woods and into the bottom corner.
Suddenly Hearts had their tails up and Callum Morrison should have added a quick second only to fire wide when clean through on goal.
On the half hour mark Shaun Want came to the rescue when he made a brilliant goal-saving block to deny Uche Ikpeazu after he was played in by Naismith.
The action was fast and furious and it Hamilton almost regained the lead just before the interval.
A neat exchange between Sam Kelly and Darren Lyon teed up Bingham, whose effort from 12-yards was deflected inches over the crossbar.
Four minutes after the break Hearts went ahead from the penalty spot after Penny felled Naismith.
It was a stonewaller with referee Dallas perfectly positioned to make the call.
Andy Barr – The Sun Glasgow
Woods had done well initially to block Ikpeazu’s angled drive, however Naismith was on to the rebound in a flash.
A clever touch inside drew the foul from Penny and the experienced striker never looked like missing the spot kick, tucking it nonchalantly into the bottom left-hand corner.
The game was put to bed in the 57th minute when, not for the first time, the Accies defence got themselves in a terrible tangle.
And when they failed to clear their lines Haring was on hand to pick up the pieces.
Standing in acres of space he had time to pick his spot before calmly side-footing home through a ruck of players.
The fourth arrived in the 63rd minute as MacLean got in on the act, evading his marker before firing a sublime effort past the dispirited Woods.
Rangers target Kyle Lafferty was afforded a late cameo with the points already in the bag.
Wearing bright blue boots the Northern Irishman was warmly welcomed on to the pitch by the travelling fans, who made it clear they do not want him to head back to Ibrox.
CRAIG LEVEIN reckons Hearts are ready to take the league by storm this season.
But, after watching them demolish Hamilton the Jambos boss also insisted one swallow doesn’t make a summer.
Levein was delighted the way his side bounced back impressively after conceding an early goal.
A brace from Peter Haring and strikes from veteran duo, Steven Naismith and Steven MacLean, ensured Hearts ended the day as the early Premiership pacesetters.
Levein said: “After 15 minutes I wasn’t feeling as relaxed as I was at the end.
“We didn’t start very well and they were much better than us.
“In hindsight it is not a bad thing to dig in and turn it around. It makes us feel quite good about ourselves.
“No disrespect, but I think we will face tougher test in the coming weeks.
“There are some good signs that we can do better this season than we did last, but I am not getting too carried away after only one game. “
Andy Barr – The Sun Glasgow
Levein singled out the contributions of new boys MacLean and Haring, who were both outstanding as Hearts ran riot.
He said: “Steven is a fantastic footballer and I feel it’s hard to leave him out at the moment.
“I love Peter. He’s so honest and wholehearted in everything he does, every tackle, every header.
“He’s a dream. He’s low maintenance and I don’t need to worry about him too much.â€
Kyle Lafferty appeared as a late substitute with Levein confirming there has been no further bids from Rangers, who had a £200,000 offer knocked back last week.
He added: “There’s no change. Kyle got a good reception when he came on because he’s a good player and the punters like him.â€
Meanwhile, Martin Canning admits he desperately needs defensive reinforcements to help out his young side.
The Hamilton boss has made the addition of two experienced centre halves a priority in the wake of a disastrous start to the new campaign.
Accies were all over the place at the back as Hearts strolled to an opening day 4-1 win at the Hope CBD Stadium.
Andy Barr – The Sun Glasgow
Hamilton completely collapsed after taking the lead and Canning knows he must quickly address the problems.
He said: “It is bitterly disappointing, particularly as we were excellent in the first half and should have gone in at the break ahead.
“I spoke about staying focused in the second half but with young defenders you switch off against an experienced team and you get punished.
“That’s what happened to us. I don’t think Hearts did anything spectacular and opened us up. It was just individual mistakes.
“There were positives but ultimately we lost the game and we need to address that.
“We need to get experience in to help the young players. If we can do that then it will change a lot of things.
“I’m not saying everything is solved by experience but we need to add defensively. We need more competition for places.
“It disappointed me that we lost three goals in ten minutes. We need older heads in there to calm everybody down.
“We are close to getting a couple in and hopefully we can get something done sooner rather than later.â€
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Source: https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/football/3024368/hamilton-1-hearts-4-peter-haring/