Statistics

The match

First half

Aberdeen misshapen back line

Example of the Aberdeen defence: high(ish) up the park, and unorganised.

Second Half

Considine for the second half. Hamilton started to pick up bookings for same late and cynical fouls, slowing down the game to suit their style and give their defence time to re-group. Not a tactic most people enjoy to see, but it's certainly an effective one, especially given how lenient the referee was in the first half.

Redmond Energy

Redmond dispossessing Aberdeen's Logan on the edge of his own box:

Redmond rampaging down the left. In just eleven seconds he's dispossessed Logan (who is in the bottom right of the photo) and left him trailing in his wake.

22 seconds later he's in the opposition box looking for the run of Andreu.

Aberdeen positioning during an attack



McGovern working hard

The Finisher

The space is exploited and Hamilton have scored 8 seconds after re-gaining the ball

Conclusion

I've seen a lot of comments that Hamilton's artificial pitch is the reason for the rise in form and why they occupy the top of the table, but I don't think that's true and the stats back this up. Hamilton actually have athan they do away from home (home: W-3 D- 3 L-1, away: W-4 D-1 L-0).than at home (2.8 on avg away to 2.0 at home). I think it's more to do with an experienced bunch of players and some good tactics.Aberdeen started the season early due to their European run and since the game where they played valiantly against Real Sociedad, they have been playing well at home (other than the 3-0 reverse handed out by Dundee United) but their away form has suffered a little (3 losses and two wins). Aberdeen have also really struggled to score away from home (avg of 1.2 goals a game away, and 2 goals a game at home).With the statistics in mind then, it comes as little surprise that Hamilton, in the end, convincingly won.This was a very physical game, with a number of crunching tackles taking place as teams tried to assert their authority on the match. From the start Hamilton looked to exploit the wings, with balls coming high over the top of the full backs (a good tactic given that Aberdeen have been a little shaky at defending lately). Redmond was lucky not to be booked early on for a tasty challenge with studs showing on Aberdeen's Logan.The first goal came about as an attempted clearance of a header by Taylor found the path of Imrie who flicked it over the on rushing Langfield for an easy side foot finish from Andreu. An easier goal than that he will probably not find.There are a number of mistakes here: Taylor's misdirected header, no one is actually tight to Imrie and Langfield makes the choice to charge but gets almost nothing on the ball leaving Andreu with an open goal.Imrie was constantly causing problems with his closing down and very direct running on the ball, he seemed to be all over the park (down both flanks and at one point holding the ball up in the middle). It's amazing to think he's 31, he's still very quick down the wing and still boasts a considerable amount of stamina.It was odd that the Aberdeen defence were playing relatively high up the park at times, McInness must have been aware how quick the Hamilton attack is and that this would leave them very vulnerable to a counter attack. As a result of this there was a lot of hacked clearances and needlessly conceding of possession, particularly after the goal.One bizarre deflection saw Aberdeen's Rooney clear through on goal, but at an awkward angle he scuffed the ball straight into the hands of McGovern, when Goodwillie was standing unmarked in the centre.Next it was Goodwillie's turn to squander a good chance, neatly side footing a shot straight at McGovern. McGovern was more than up to the challenge and was rushing out of his goal very well to block both attempts. Finally Rooney mishit a volley (to be fair to him the cross came in at speed and he was stretching to get to it) and a combination of good defending from Gordon and quick goalkeeping saw the chance go to waste. In between these events Hamilton had Langfield scrambling to clear once again after a ball over the top caused more confusion amongst the Aberdeen defensive ranks.Pawlett came on forThe second goal actually starts with an excellent last ditch sliding challenge by Redmond on the edge of his own box, who then bursts forward to eventually latch on to a flicked through ball (after it's pinged around a lot) down the left flank of the opposition box. He slides the ball across the box into the on running Andreu who once again finds the net. The energy in this Hamilton side is incredible to watch, this attack was created through sheer determination.The second half was frantic, but there wasn't an awful lot of goal mouth action. It was mostly late challenges and long balls either down the wings (for Hamilton) or to the strikers (mainly for Aberdeen). Aberdeen seem confused what style they want to play, half the team seem suited to a probing and short passing build up, where as the other half seem to prefer the lump it approach.At this point a ball is whipped to the back post by Flood and headed back across goal to the opposite post by McGinn (who was very active when he came on), unfortunately three Aberdeen players are occupying the same space and no one is close enough to the open space (where the ball ended up).This was another good opportunity missed for Aberdeen, frankly they were very wasteful upfront and could have had at least 3 goals by this point.McGovern sprinting off his line to intercept a long flat Lagnfield pass.Seconds later, after excellent work by McGinn down the wing he whips in a cross to the front post which is touched goal wards by Shankland. Miraculously McGovern keeps the ball out with a point blank save with his right palm.Aberdeen lose the ball at the halfway line, incredibly two players stand arguing instead of chasing back, and look at the space available.Eight seconds later the ball is in the net after an excellent cross from the right by Crawford finds Antoine-Curier in a large amount of space with Logan the closest player (in his defence he wasn't meant to be marking him, given that he was playing right back).Aberdeen weren't actually that bad, and they had more goal scoring chances than Hamilton, yet they failed to find the net through poor finishing and an excellent display by McGovern. A special mention too for the right back Gordon, as he was excellent in closing down the opposition for Hamilton as well as organising the defence.