Hamilton 3-0 Dunfermline

Feb 10 2008 Alan Mcmillan At New Douglas Park

DEADLY Richard Offiong grabbed a hat-trick as Hamilton proved they will be hard to shift from top spot.

The striker, who now has a tally of 18 for the season, had the points wrapped up by half-time thanks to a penalty and two close range finishes.

Dunfermline had no-one who could match Offiong's sharpness and seemed to accept towards the end they would be second-best to Accies for the third time this season.

Still Pars looked bright early on and almost got a flyer when Mark Burchill sent Kevin Harper through on goal - but keeper Bryn Halliwell was sharp off his line to save at the midfielder's feet.

Accies responded by forcing six corners in three minutes with defender David Ellibert getting on the end of one of Tom Parratt's deliveries to head against Paul Gallacher's left post.

Dunfermline carved open their opponents again with Stevie Crawford and Burchill combining to set up new recruit Alex Burke for a shot Halliwell got down quickly to save.

Then Burchill had a drive charged down by Ellibert at the edge of the box as the home side continued to be pegged back.

But Hamilton showed they could also attack at pace and were awarded a 13th-minute penalty.

David Graham raced out from midfield, leaving two opponents in his wake before going down under a challenge by Sol Bamba.

Ref Stephen Finney pointed to the spot but it looked a soft award and the Fife players protested furiously before Richard Offiong calmly placed the spot-kick in at a corner of the net.

Offiong burst into the box minutes later but his shot was blocked by Scott Wilson.

Burchill should have equalised after a lucky deflection off the boot of Alex Neil left him one-on-one with Haliwell - but the keeper dealt brilliantly with the striker's effort.

Stephen Simmons had a shooting chance after a free-kick from Stephen Glass was cleared to the edge of the box but he couldn't hit the target.

It was a much more open game than Hamilton have been used to of late and there were plenty of talking points for both sets of fans.

Mark Gilaney surprised Gallacher with a shot that bounced off the keeper's chest before being cleared by a defender. Another nice Hamilton move saw Offiong send Tom Parratt tearing away down the right.

Dunfermline fans heaved a sigh of relief when James McArthur knocked the full-back's cross wide from pointblank range.

A powerful run from Bamba ended with him being hauled down 20 yards from goal - but Glass sent the free-kick high and wide.

Hamilton extended their lead in the 35th minute.

Brian Easton made a fantastic bursting run down the left and cut the ball back for Offiong to net a simple finish from eight yards.

The striker was only inches away from his hat-trick minutes later when he got his head to a Parratt free-kick.

Dunfermline were still well in the game and cursed their luck when a long-range shot by Crawford beat Halliwell and came back off the keeper's right post.

But top scorer Offiong got his hat-trick two minutes from the break.

McArthur did the spade work in midfield and set up Graham.

His shot was blocked but Offiong reacted first to knock home the loose ball to put high-flying Accies home and dry.

The home side lost McArthur early in the second half with what looked like a broken nose after a clash with powerful defender Bamba.

James McCarthy took his place and Dunfermline sent on Tam McManus for Crawford.

However, Offiong almost got goal No.4 when he just failed to connect properly with an Easton cross.

MoM: Offiong (Hamilton)