Hamilton Academical 2-3 Dumbarton

DUMBARTON claimed a vital victory in their bid to beat the drop as ten-man Hamilton found themselves leapfrogged by their visitors,

Scorers: Hamilton Academical - Ryan 65; May 88; Dumbarton - McDougall 25; Agnew 49; McGinn 85

Hamilton had the better of the early chances but the opener came at the other end as a Steven McDougall corner sparked mayhem in the home box.

The danger appeared to have been averted when Ziggy Gordon produced a brave block to deny Jim Lister but the loose ball fell for McDougall whose shot took a deflection on its way into the top corner. Hamilton’s problems intensified in 35 minutes when Gary Fisher was shown a straight red card for a studs-up lunge on Paul McGinn.

However, the ten men almost hit back before the break when Martin Canning’s cross was headed against the bar by Stephen Hendrie.

Dumbarton doubled their lead on the restart when McDougall turned provider, dribbling round Kevin Cuthbert before presenting Scott Agnew with an easy tap-in.

Accies threw themselves a lifeline when Andy Ryan fired home from the edge of the box.

Dumbarton thought they had clinched it when McGinn fired in their third but they were left hanging on when Stevie May reduced the arrears in the dying minutes.