cinch Championship – Hamilton Accies v Ayr United (Friday 11th November)
The BBC Scotland cameras head to Lanarkshire this evening for a top v bottom clash as Hamilton Accies get set to take on league leaders Ayr United.
The 22/23 season has been a tough one for Accies. Having won just two of their opening 14 league fixtures, it looks like Hamilton are in for a battle against relegation. The squad is filled with plenty talented young players but results just don’t seem to be going their way. Having scored just 14 times since the start of the season and conceded 27 (joint most in the division), it’s a rather simple equation. Accies aren’t scoring enough and are conceding far too many. For most clubs that are struggling, home form is generally key but Accies have a poor record on their own patch. One win from 7 doesn’t make for great reading. Boss John Rankin will need to find a winning formula from somewhere in a notoriously tough division and this evening’s clash could prove to be Accies’ biggest test so far this season.
The Championship has long been a wholly unpredictable division but even the most optimistic of Honest Men would probably not have predicted they would be sitting top of the table by mid-November. While many of the promotion favourites have struggled, Ayr have flourished. Winning 7 and losing just 3 of their opening 14 fixtures finds Lee Bullen’s side 3 points clear at the division’s summit. Momentum is key though, and Ayr must keep picking up positive results if they want to stay the course. Despite the 3-point gap there are 4 teams all snapping at their heels. Ayr are currently on 25 points, while there are 4 sides all tied on 22 (Morton, Raith, Dundee & Inverness). Tonight’s trip to Lanarkshire is a huge opportunity to consolidate pole position. Especially considering that Ayr’s next 5 Championship fixtures are against each member of the chasing pack, plus Partick Thistle!
cinch League 1 – Alloa Athletic v Queen of the South (Saturday 12th November)
As expected, League 1 is once again very unpredictable. Saturday sees two sides with promotion aspirations face off, with the Doonhamers heading to Clackmannanshire for what has the makings of an intriguing encounter.
Brian Rice’s Wasps are one of the form teams in League 1, having lost just once in their last 5 matches. Alloa currently find themselves in 5th place, just 1 point behind both Falkirk and Montrose, having accumulated the same number of wins as both sides respectively (7, for those counting!). Currently sitting with a +5 goal difference, having scored 25 and conceded 20, Alloa’s form is very much that of a side chasing the play-offs. With 5 victories at home, the Wasps have turned the Recs into quite the fortress. With the opportunity to potentially leapfrog the sides above them in the table, a win over Queens on Saturday would be a huge one. Alloa were generally second best in the meeting at Palmerston back in October but managed to nick a point through a late Ross MacIver goal. The Wasps’ attackers will have to be at the top of their game if they are to go one better this time round.
Queens have had a rather up-and-down season following their relegation to League 1. Player-manager Wullie Gibson has assembled a talented squad, with plenty of players having already proven themselves to be more than capable at a higher level but the key issue has been picking up consistent results. When they’ve gotten it right, they’ve been brilliant. For example, the 3-0 win away to Edinburgh last weekend. On the other hand, there have been too many games which have been drawn when they could have been won. Interestingly, Queens’ away form is more impressive than their home form, having lost just twice and picked up 11 points on the road. If Queens can put a decent run of games together, they’ll be challenging right at the top of the table. Consistency is key though, and Saturday’s trip to Alloa will be a huge hurdle for the Doonhamers to overcome.
cinch League 2 – Elgin City v Dumbarton (Saturday 12th November)
It’s fourth against first in the cinch League 2 game of the day at Borough Briggs as we reach fixture round 14 in the division.
Dumbarton regained top spot last weekend with a 2-0 home win over Stranraer while Stirling Albion saw their six-match winning run ended by Albion Rovers in a 1-1 draw at Cliftonhill. Stevie Farrell’s side have reacted well to a 6-0 thrashing at Forthbank last month – they came through a tricky Scottish Cup tie at Cumnock and also beat Annan 1-0 at Galabank. The Sons’ success this season has generally been built on a strong defence, with seven clean sheets already and they remain unbeaten on home soil, with away defeats at Stirling and Stranraer. It would be a real statement in their title bid if they could take all three points from the long tip north.
Elgin City have the SPFL’s top scorer in Kane Hester, who has netted 12 goals in 13 league appearances. Only Stirling Albion have scored more goals than Gavin Price’s team but they have conceded 22 and only managed a couple of shut-outs. Elgin won their last home game 4-0 against Camelon in the Scottish Cup – they then lost 2-1 away to East Fife before a 3-2 success at Bonnyrigg last weekend courtesy of a Russell Dingwall hat-trick.
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