St Mirren 0 - 2 Hamilton Academical: Accies bewitch, bother and bewilder rivals with straightforward will to win

Published on Saturday 31 October 2009 20:11

ON THE Eve of All Hallows, the Saints of Paisley endured a nightmare as Hamilton earned their first away win of the season.

Already two sloppy goals down, a red card for Lee Mair after 66 minutes ended any chance of a point for a poor St Mirren.

The Accies thoroughly deserved their victory. Disciplined in defence, industrious in midfield, and up against defenders who turned to mush at the sight of a dead ball, they are now four points clear of relegation rivals Falkirk.

Accies made the brightest possible start in the sunshine, scoring from their first attacking move in the third minute. David Barron conceded a corner under no pressure, allowing Richard Hastings to swing in a cross which was cleared only as far as James Wesolowski on the edge of the box. His low shot deflected to Marco Paixao who fired home as the defenders stood off.

"If you give a team the encouragement and a goal in that manner, it's going to be a tough afternoon and that's the way it panned out," said St Mirren manager Gus MacPherson afterwards.

St Mirren took ten minutes to look dangerous, Hugh Murray's cross-shot being cleared by Trent McClenahan. Hamilton reacted to increasing pressure with physical stuff, Wesolowski being yellow-carded for a foul on the dangerous Stephen McGinn, but at the other end James McArthur's fierce 35-yard was spectacularly fisted to safety by Paul Gallacher. By contrast, Tomas Cerny did not have to be so acrobatic to save a long-range effort from Andy Dorman.

Led by McArthur, Hamilton's constant pressing on the St Mirren midfield had the desired effect of keeping the home side at bay, and frustration showed when Murray clattered goalscorer Paixao and was booked.

Billy Mehmet put Dorman clear on the left of the box, and his shot caused confusion between Cerny and his defence until the goalkeeper flopped on the ball. Mehmet then had a go himself, but his shot off Dorman squeezed just past the post.

Against the run of play, Hamilton scored their second as half-time approached. The visitors won an easy corner which was cleared by Jack Ross straight back to taker Paixao. The Portuguese player's second cross was much more lethal, Martin Canning and Wesolowski both lunging at the ball and the former claiming the goal.

"We didn't play well in the first half, St Mirren controlled and dominated, but we went in 2-0 up and sometimes that's how it works," admitted Hamilton manager Billy Reid.

St Mirren started the second half in determined mood and Michael Higdon's header off a Dorman free-kick slid just past the post.

Mikael-Antoine Curier picked up a yellow card for a foul on Murray, and Dorman soon joined him in the book for a foul on McArthur.

The next card colour to be seen was red. After Mehmet's goalbound shot was deflected over by his colleague Stephen O'Donnell, there was real controversy in 66 minutes when Curier was hauled back inside the centre circle by Lee Mair. Though Curier had nearly half the field to go, referee Stephen Finnie hesitated only for a few seconds before sending Mair off. Had it been Usain Bolt, you might have said Mair had stopped a goalscoring opportunity, and the card seemed very harsh, though St Mirren manager MacPherson said: "I've not got a problem with it."

With St Mirren looking a beaten side,Hamilton attempted to use their extra-man advantage, but never created a serious opportunity. Grant Stevens came on for the useful Simon Mensing and was booked within 90 seconds for kicking the ball away after a foul.

St Mirren tried manfully to compete, but were so discombobulated that when captain John Potter was substituted he retained the armband leaving the Saints technically skipperless. Summed up the sinning Saints' day, really, and it was Accies who dooked the Hallowe'en treat of three points.