Reghan Tumilty met up with his old Raith Rovers pals in midweek and warned them this would happen.
He may have helped the Kirkcaldy club to victory in this very tournament last year, but on Sunday he personally made good on his vow that, this time, it would be Hamilton Accies’ name on the SPFL Trust Trophy. The right-back’s first-half goal was the only one of still very much dramatic afternoon at the Falkirk Stadium.
Some clubs just thrive on being the underdog, and Accies are one of them. 10th in the Championship, no wins in eight attempts against Raith, forced into three subs by half-time and a man light for the last half hour thanks to Dan O’Reilly’s red card – this was a gutsy triumph the numbers suggested should not have been possible.
But John Rankin has installed some of his own famous steely resolve in this team, and they fought and scrapped their way to a deserved victory. It is one which might just transform their season.
Accies are still very much in the second tier’s relegation mire, but we are about to see just how much silverware can lift the morale of a club teetering above the trapdoor to League One.
They had to overcome numerous obstacles to earn it.
Benny Ashley-Seal’s first Hamilton start lasted all of 10 minutes before he was withdrawn with injury and replaced by Jean-Pierre Tiehi. Ashley-Seal was soon followed down the tunnel by the luckless Marley Redfern.
The teenage winger spoke in midweek about his protracted struggles with injury – returning only to break down again several times – and looked visibly distraught as he too was forced to make away for Tom Sparrow.
This was all clearly less than ideal for Rankin, who had already named a much-changed starting side to the one which lost at home to Ayr United last week. His pre-match promise was that his selected outfit would have a go from the outset, but the stoppages did little to help an opening half an hour which was toiling to find any fluency.
It needed a spark, and that’s exactly what Tumilty provided as he reacted first to a loose ball after Regan Mimnaugh’s corner – which hit him initially - slamming a left-footed effort through a ruck of bodies into the back of the net. Tumilty started the day at right-back, but Redfern’s injury pushed him on to right midfield, and he had arguably been Accies’ liveliest player, clearly determined to get one over on his old club.
It was a largely toothless opening period from Raith’s perspective. They rattled six past struggling Cove Rangers only a week ago and had not lost in eight previous outings against Accies, but it was not until first-half stoppage time that they began to advance the ball into Hamilton’s box with any threat or regularity.
Dylan Easton was left with head in hands after a neat tee-up from Isma Goncalves offered him a sight of goal, but a wall of red and white jerseys took the sting out of his shot on its way into the arms of Ryan Fulton. There was more Accies anxiety when an inviting cross off the left from Easton was allowed to bounce in the six-yard box, but it was just about smuggled clear before a dark blue jersey could pounce.
Considering the two injury setbacks, Rankin could not have been more satisfied with his side’s effort at the halfway point. They were well-organised, ultra-committed in the tackle – much to their noisy support’s consistent delight – and carried a threat on the break.
To carry on the theme of the afternoon thus far, however, Matthew Shiels did not re-emerge fr,om the interval, and Dario Zanatta became Accies’ third change of the final only midway through. Raith were unchanged personnel-wise, but badly needed to bring some urgency to the restart.
It came in the form of Sam Stanton forging a path into the box at pace, but his cutback was just behind the lurking Goncalves. Fulton was then forced into serious action for the first time as Stanton burst through but found the onrushing Accies keeper in the way of his shot.
And then came the red card. O’Reilly can have no complaints with it, truth be told. His eyes did appear to be on the ball as it bounced through midfield, but it was his leading forearm catching the passing Stanton in the face which led referee Colin Steven immediately to his top pocket.
Raith’s steadily building pressure quickly became a full-on siege. Stanton, recovered from that smack in the face, was pulling the strings as the Kirkcaldy men focused much of their energy down the right hand side. Ross Millen’s high cross was flapped at by an uncertain Fulton, but he was bailed by sub Brian Easton – on for Lewis Smith after the red card – getting back to protect the goal from Stanton’s shot.
Fulton did much better with the next one, plucking Easton’s cross out of the air to give his team a brief breather, then tipping over as Stanton – on a one-man mission to rescue Raith – wrapped his left foot around a powerful shot.
There is so much to be said for getting through that first 15 minutes or so after going a man down; it breeds assurance in tackling the task at hand and, especially as the clock ticks down, begins to sow frustration in the opponent.
And, of course, you might just need your keeper to pull something out of the bag when it matters. As Raith threw the kitchen sink at it, Fulton stepped up when his team needed him.
The first was a stunning reaction stop from sub Aidan Connolly as he looked certain to score in the six yard box, only for Fulton to somehow turn the ball over the bar. Connolly couldn’t believe it, nor could most of the rest inside the Falkirk Stadium.
The keeper was required to do it again when the ball broke to sub Lewis Vaughan in the box, but he could not find a way past the seemingly unbeatable Englishman. He and Accies were not to be denied, and deservedly so.
