Hamilton Accies and Falkirk meet in the second leg of their Premiership Play-Off Semi-Final this weekend with the tie finely balanced after Tuesday night’s first meeting at the Falkirk Stadium.
Darian MacKinnon gave the Accies the lead with half an hour to go however on-loan Carlisle striker Mark Beck equalised and play resumes with the score at 1-1.
The game at New Douglas Park for the right to meet a Hibs side that finished in second bottom place, home and away in the Play-Off Final is a unique experience in the long career of Accies defender Martin Canning.
The 32-year-old, who started his career at Ross County back in 1999 and had a loan spell at Peterhead before heading for Gretna 7 years later, has played in all four of Scotland’s senior divisions however this is a first time that he has been involved in a promotion Play-Off.
The big centre back, who had a short spell at Easter Road before joining Hamilton in 2008, is glad to be helping his side with their second attempt at promotion this season.
Canning said: “I have been in the game for a lot of years but I have never been in the Play-Offs before. It is quite a strange experience to be honest. You would much prefer to go up straight away but the way things have turned out we still have a chance and that is really important.”
Hamilton of course ended their season with mixed emotions as they floored relegated Morton with a historic victory only to lose the title to a Dundee side that defeated Dumbarton 2-1 at Dens Park.
Canning said: “We won 10-2 on the last day and to be honest no-one here ever expected a win like that. We did not even talk about goal difference before the game so to go out and do that was amazing. It was a great win but it actually made not winning the League harder to take.”
“If we had won something like 2-1 and Dundee had even drawn they would still have won the League on goal difference but it probably would not have felt as bad as scoring ten goals and not winning. To turn the goal difference around in such a spectacular fashion actually made things feel worse.”
By the time the final whistles sounded in Lanarkshire and Tayside almost two weeks ago the Accies failed by one goal to go up automatically with Canning saying: “If Dumbarton had nicked a goal it would have won us the league as we had scored more goals than Dundee. But they did not and we have moved on. The Play-Offs are a second chance and having them here makes not winning the Championship in the manner we did a bit easier to take. “
“It is a consolation prize but it is still a prize and it is also a massive opportunity.”
Canning is a fan as he explained: “The introduction of the Play-Offs has been a great thing for the game. Not only was the Championship exciting on the final day there was huge interest and excitement in the bottom half of the Premiership as well.”
“Five teams there were trying to avoid the Play-Off spot there whereas everyone in the Championship was looking to get into them if they weren’t going to win it.”
“It certainly made both leagues much more interesting.”
Canning’s former Edinburgh side lie in wait of the winners from this weekend and the big centre back said: “I had a spell at Hibs and it would be strange to be playing them for a place in the top league if we get through against Falkirk. It would be a couple of great games to look forward to. It is funny how football works but we have to defeat Falkirk first.”
After going more than 3 years and 10 League and Cup games without a win over the Bairns, this season has been a bit kinder to Hamilton with Canning saying: “Our record with Falkirk was decent this season after a disappointing run. We won three games and drew the other one. We won twice at New Douglas Park and also won at the Falkirk Stadium and then had a goalless draw before the 1-1 first leg draw on Tuesday.”
“That is a pretty decent record compared to what had gone before”
The teams went into the game in differing ways with the Accies having had 10 days to recover from their disappointment of Dundee pipping them whereas Falkirk had played two tough ties.
The Bairns had to come from behind to defeat Queen of the South in extra time in the Play-Off quarter final 4-3 on aggregate and Canning reckons that both routes have their advantages as he explained: “We had the break and they had the two matches so it was very different preparations. You could look at it two ways as we had a good break and prepared well whereas they had the advantage of having two really competitive games whilst we were idle.”
“Falkirk were thinking that they were in the groove by playing at a fast tempo whilst we were happy to be resting. Mind you it was not really rest as we certainly worked hard in the preparations.”
“We prepared as well as we could and we were ready to go as the first leg showed.”
A place in the two-legged Play-Off final hangs in the balance and Canning knows what he has to do to help Hamilton get through as he explained: “Rory Loy is a very decent striker for them and I need to keep him quiet. I have played against him a few times and it is always tough. He is a good goalscorer and was hard to keep in check in the first leg and you have to concentrate all the time.”
“Mark Beck is a tough opponent as well and it is a physical contest with him due to his height.”
However Hamilton are not short of fire-power with Canning adding: “We have got good young players here and we have a good blend between youth and experience. Up front we have Jason Scotland who has played at a really good level and also Mickael Antoine-Curier who knows his way to goal as he as he showed against Morton by scoring four times.”
“We have players in midfield like Darian and Tony Andreu who can pop up with a goal as well so we are confident but not over confident. That is the approach we have taken to all our games this season.”
“It will be interesting Sunday afternoon that is for sure.”
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