Dan O’Reilly reckons two sloppy penalties against Stranraer ultimately cost Hamilton Accies a money-spinning Premier Sports Cup clash with Rangers.
Accies drawing 1-1 at home to Queen’s Park on Saturday sent them out of the competition, even with the bonus point for winning the shoot-out.
But the Irish defender says they went out on a goal-difference of one, which saw Queen of the South handed a last-16 trip to Ibrox next month.
And he says that points to a 5-2 win over League Two side Stranraer, where keeping a clean sheet would have seen Accies progress.
He said: “If we had won we would have qualified. Straight after the game we saw it was one goal, so if we hadn’t conceded against Queen’s Park or took the one-on-one that we had, it would have been different.
“At the time, when you beat Stranraer 5-2, you think it’s good to get a win. But after Saturday’s game you think ‘if we didn’t concede the two penalties we’d be through and playing Rangers’!
“It really is fine margins, and it goes to show you that games from the past can come back to bite you.”
O’Reilly reckons the competition’s structure doesn’t give much room for error, but says Hamilton can still take confidence into their Championship opener at home to Morton on Saturday.
He said: “It’s disappointing, especially after going 1-0 up.
“We were in control of the game, and 1-0 is a dangerous scoreline but our first-half performance was really good and in the second half we didn’t reach those same levels, so we invited pressure.
“To go out on goal-difference overall, after Saturday’s game it kind of felt like a bit like a loss, but we just turn our focus now to this week, and the most important thing is the league.
“We went out with eight points, and after the Dundee game we gave a good account of ourselves, probably over two and a half games, so it’s just the way the competition is.
“If you lose one game you know you probably can’t get top spot, so you just hope for a bit of luck and consistency on your own part.”
O’Reilly watched Morton draw 1-1 at Hibs on July 20, before Dougie Imrie’s side won 3-0 in the shoot-out, so knows what to expect from them.
But he says Hamilton must focus on their own game.
He said: “The Premier Sports Cup is competitive, but it still has that pre-season nature to it where people need minutes and you’re just trying to get through it injury-free, which most people have.
“That takes us into Saturday and I went to watch Morton against Hibs. They were very well organised and had a good game-plan so we know they will be well structured, but like any game I think we can go into it knowing if we perform to our best we can definitely win.
“We shouldn’t focus too much on them. Obviously we know their strengths, but we would always be looking at where we can exploit, and the way we want to play.
“We want to push that agenda on them, rather than us thinking we’ve to be aware of him, or whoever.
“Either way, it’s going to be a tough game. It will probably be a bit cagey at the start, because it’s the first game of the season, but it will be an exciting week.”
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