Hamilton 1 - 0 Ross County: Imrie has last laugh

Dougie Imrie had the perfect response to mocking from the home supporters by securing a first league win of the season for Hamilton which takes them into the top six.

The Hamilton attacker suffered ironic cheers when he made a complete mess of a free kick on the edge of the County box in 52 minutes. He ballooned the ball so high and wide of goal that it ended up in one of the portable goals on the training pitch.

However, the same fans were singing his praises 16 minutes from time when he popped up with the crucial strike that gave Accies only their second home league win in 16 matches.

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Imrie said: “The free kick was one of those that went very wrong but I scored the winner so that will do.

“It just fell to me and I lifted it over the keeper. He was already down and I think he thought Darian MacKinnon could get a shot away. Fortunately for me Darian miskicked it and it fell to my foot and I scored.

“It’s good to get the win. The last couple of games, Kilmarnock here and Dundee, we’ve had numerous chances to win and it hasn’t happened for us. We got the goal and did everything right at the other end. I’d take ten 1-0 wins all season, no problem.”

Accies were surprisingly dominant against a team that had won their last two matches and looking to move into second place, but it took an exceptional save from keeper Remi Matthews to prevent what could have been a different outcome.

In what was County’s best move of the match Alex Schalk hit a great diagonal ball for Michael Gardyne, but Matthews made a terrific save from the winger’s header.

Within seconds Accies were up at the other end and when Jay McEveley lost possession in midfield, Greg Docherty got the ball into where Imrie supplied the finishing touch after MacKinnon miss-kicked.

Andrew Davies did hit the bar with a header after just two minutes but the Dingwall men were second best most of the day.Manager Jim McIntyre said: “Our quality on the ball was poor.”