Hamilton Accies boss praises professional and ruthless job on East Kilbride to keep cup defence on track
dailyrecord.co.ukHamilton boss John Rankin praised his ruthless players for making sure their cup defence didn't get killed off by East Kilbride.Lowland League Kilby had dumped League One Stirling Albion and Edinburgh City out in previous rounds, but there was no repeat against the division's leaders as holders Hamilton eased past EK.Kyle MacDonald, who hails from East Kilbride, bagged a double against his hometown team in amongst Joel Mumbongo's first Accies strike, an Aron Arnott own goal and a Connor Murray strike.Kilby netted thanks to two stunning strikes in either half, courtesy of captain Chris McGowan and Nathan Flanagan, but Accies proved too strong.And Rankin said: "The professionalism was bang on."We wanted to make sure we didn't get killed.
They had already beaten Stirling Albion and Edinburgh City from our league, so we knew it would be a difficult task, but we came with a plan and the players were ruthless when they got their opportunities."We could have scored more, but I'm delighted to be in the next round."The boys carried out everything we asked them to do to a tee."We got the press right in their half and that resulted in three or four of the goals. "I'm delighted with the attitude because this is a hard place to come and the application was really good.
I thought Connor Murray really set the tone and he was excellent."We've got ourselves through after making six changes. Some were forced.
Dylan Tait, Jamie Barjonas and Dylan McGowan were strugggling but I felt it was important to get them on the pitch to keep them going and keep that momentum going in their head as well."Being able to make those changes and get a 5-2 win, I'm delighted."It is the first time EK have tasted defeat under boss Mick Kennedy, who
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