May day for Hamilton as striker notches hat-trick with no reply from Livingston

Livingston suffered a 3-0 home defeat at the hands of ten-man Hamilton as Stevie May notched a hat-trick to secure all the points for new player-boss Alex Neil.

The Lions were denied by Accies goalkeeper Kevin Cuthbert who made crucial early saves from Iain Russell and 17-year-old striker Kyle Lander. Hamilton then suffered a blow on 27 minutes when Neil went off injured to be replaced by Gary Fisher. The tide turned in this game however when referee David Somers pointed to the spot on 41 minutes after Jon McShane was pushed in the six-yard box following Martin Canning’s cross. May sent Andy McNeil the wrong way with a perfect right-footed shot giving him his 20th goal of the season.

And just a couple of minutes later May curled a beautiful 18-yard shot into the top corner.

Livi missed a glaring chance on 69 minutes when Russell did well to cross for sub Danny Mullen who miscued wide from six yards, denying the home side a foothold in the game.

The West Lothian club were thrown a lifeline when Accies defender Jonathan Page was shown a red card. Instead, Accies finished with a bang when May turned and fired a great shot home for his hat-trick before going off to a standing ovation.

Other results: Airdrie Utd 1, Partick Thistle 2; Morton 0, Dunfermline 1; Raith Rovers 0, Cowdenbeath 1.