Stokes saves Celtic

Anthony Stokes
12 April 2012

Hamilton were denied their first win over Celtic in almost 22 years when Anthony Stokes claimed a last-minute leveller from the penalty spot for the Clydesdale Bank Premier League leaders in a 1-1 draw at New Douglas Park.

The rock-bottom Accies opened the scoring through Simon Mensing and had looked set to hold on for a famous win until the final minute of a dramatic encounter.

James Forrest and Jim McAlister were both sent off earlier in the game and Mensing joined them when he conceded the last-gasp spot kick as the points were shared.

The breakthrough came after 28 minutes, and surprisingly it went Hamilton's way. Flavio Paixao lofted the ball into the box and although Fraser Forster managed to block, Mensing pounced to nod home. Martin Canning appeared to be in an offside position in front of the goalkeeper but the goal was allowed to stand.

The Hoops suffered another setback just four minutes after the restart when Forrest dived in late with a rash challenge on David Buchanan and was shown a straight red card, with the Accies player requiring treatment before being able to continue.

Hamilton threw McAlister into the action in place of McLaughlin after 62 minutes but he was sent off after just 35 seconds on the field following a reckless tackle on Mark Wilson, who was replaced by Niall McGinn moments later.

Now that the number of players on each team was level again, Celtic set about trying to level the scoreline too and Stokes saw his ferocious drive from 25 yards gratefully smothered by Tomas Cerny.

The Accies stopper was called into action again when Dougie Imrie's clearance smacked off Stokes and rebounded towards goal. Daniel Majstorovic - who netted his first goal for Celtic at the weekend - then nodded wide from the corner.

Just when Accies thought they had held on for the win, the referee pointed to the penalty spot in the last minute, as Mensing was sent off for a foul on Emilio Izaguirre in the box. Stokes stepped up to send the goalkeeper the wrong way with the spot-kick.

Stokes then thought he had grabbed the winner at the death but Izaguirre's corner had gone out of play before he forced home a header as the match ended all square.

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