Accies explain narrowing of pitch

Aberdeen agreed to the narrowing of the pitch at Hamilton

A failure with the underground heating system led to Hamilton narrowing the pitch for Saturday's win over Aberdeen.

A thin patch all along the touchline on the main stand side of New Douglas Park had not thawed sufficiently.

The pitch was brought in by two yards on either flank after consultation between both clubs, the match officials and the Scottish Premier League.

The reduced dimensions of the pitch fully complied with the laws of the game and SPL recommendations.

The club released a statement after their 2-0 victory, saying: "The underground heating system has been on all week in view of the current cold weather.

"The system has previously been used this season v Kilmarnock on 29/11/08 and worked perfectly and has worked perfectly on test at other times. The system had used 5000 litres of oil since Wednesday of this week and a fresh delivery of 5000 litres arrived first thing on Saturday.

"The heating was then turned to full power after this delivery.

The difference recently is that we've started to learn how to play in this league and we've adapted James McArthur, Hamilton midfielder

"Unfortunately, in the changeover of the fuel to the delivery pump, we believe an airlock in one of the pipes has occurred, about one yard from the touchline along the main stand side, leading to that small strip of the pitch becoming slightly harder as the morning wore on.

"This had not previously occurred. (The pitch was fine when Aberdeen arrived at 10am to unload their kit).

"After consultation between both clubs, the match officials, the SPL Delegate (George Douglas), contact was made with SPL officials and Board Members, and agreement was given to bring the touchline in by two yards on both sides of the ground.

"The dimensions of the pitch, which was 115 yards x 75 yards, the recommended standard international size, still fully comply with Laws of the Game and SPL recommendations.

"The area which had been causing slight concern was playable by 1500 GMT as the heating remained on for the match."

In the absence of suspended club captain Alex Neil, James McArthur led Accies to victory.

MY SPORT: DEBATE Send us your thought's on Saturday's game

A Simon Mensing penalty and an impressive Richard Offiong strike helped Hamilton to both a third successive home win and clean sheet and McArthur hopes his team can continue their run of results when they return to league action in a fortnight after next week's Scottish Cup ties.

"This was a massive game for us - we need to win at home and take as many points as we can," said McArthur.

"In some ways, the cup gives you a rest from the SPL, but I would like to carry on in the league because we've been doing well recently.

"We knew that this stage of the season was the start of a run of games where we could try to take a lot of points.

"We've beaten Kilmarnock, Motherwell and now Aberdeen, who are a good side, and we need to continue that; hopefully we'll start getting wins to take ourselves away from the bottom of the table but it's going to be hard in our first year in the top flight.

"The difference recently is that we've started to learn how to play in this league and we've adapted."