Ten-man Kilmarnock dig deep to beat Hamilton

Eamonn Brophy’s early red card can’t stop Alex Dyer’s side

Kilmarnock's Nicke Kabamba makes it 2-1 against Hamilton. Picture: Alan Harvey / SNS

Kilmarnock bounced back from Eamonn Brophy’s early red card to secure a deserved 2-1 win over Hamilton.

Despite losing Brophy in the 23rd minute, Killie battled valiantly to secure all three points courtesy of Nicke Kabamba’s third goal of the season just before the hour mark. The 27-year-old striker slammed home left-footed from inside the box after Ryan Fulton made a fine double save to deny Chris Burke and Gary Dicker.

Burke, the in-form 36-year-old, was prominent early on and it was no surprise that he was instrumental in the opening goal in the tenth minute.

The former Scotland winger danced majestically past defenders before being fouled by Hakeem Odoffin but referee Nick Walsh played advantage and Greg Kiltie smashed a low effort beyond Fulton into the bottom corner.

The visitors offered little as an attacking threat until Odoffin equalised in the 18th minute. David Templeton’s pinpoint corner found the defender unmarked six yards out and after his initial header was parried by Danny Rogers, he slammed the ball into the roof of the net.

The equaliser seemed to boost the visitors’ confidence and they almost went ahead minutes later but David Moyo fired straight at Rogers from inside the box.

An entertaining encounter was clouded by a controversial red card for Brophy in the 23rd minute. The former Accies man stretched to block Scott McMann’s clearance but caught the defender and Walsh brandished a straight red.

Killie manager Alex Dyer later described the decision as a “strange one”. He added: “I don’t think he went to hurt the lad, it’s just a tackle but he’s a little bit high. If it was a yellow card then I’d have thought fair enough but the ref gave a red and we had to move on – which we did. It didn’t affect us too much and we played well.”

Indeed, Kabamba put Kilmarnock back in front in the 57th minute. Hamilton made a host of tactical and personnel changes as they chased an equaliser, but Will Collar fired a half-volley wide with their best chance.

“I’m standing here smiling because every single player worked hard to get the three points today,” said Dyer. “It was well-earned after going down to ten men, the boys never stopped and we got the right result in the end. That’s down to the characters in our changing room, we’ve got some good players with good experience. They dug in and worked hard.”