St Mirren 1 Hamilton 0

Picture courtsey of Jeff Holmes

St Mirren finally got their first home win of the season as they edged out Hamilton 1-0 in a tense affair in Paisley. The Buddies had not tasted victory on home soil since defeating Ross County by the same scoreline back in May at the tail-end of last season. Steven Thompson got the all-important goal for the home side just after the hour mark, and in the end they just about deserved the victory over a disappointing Hamilton side that offered very little. As if the blustery wind around New St Mirren Park was not enough for the players to contend with, the heavens opened just before kick-off and it took some time for the game to settle into any sort of pattern as both teams struggled to cope with the conditions. The first meaningful effort came from home debutant Alan Gow, who picked the ball up 30 yards from goal and made Michael McGovern work for the first time with a driven shot that the Accies keeper held comfortably. With both sides in poor runs of form and lacking confidence, there was little other action to speak of in a drab opening half-hour but then a succession of corners almost brought the home side the lead. James Dayton's in-swinging ball was cleared back out to the winger's feet, and his second cross picked out the head of debutant centre-half Victor Genev, whose header looked to be creeping into the top corner before a fine diving intervention by McGovern. Gow then tested McGovern again, showing good feet on the edge of the area to evade two challenges before trying a looping effort which the Accies number one did well to tip over. Hamilton had rarely been seen as an attacking force but they almost grabbed the lead as the game approached half-time, some lovely intricate passing ending in a one-two on the edge of the area between Jason Scotland and Ali Crawford that saw the former with a clear sight of goal. With time and space, the frontman should have done better than drag his low right-foot effort just wide. Jason Naismith then hit the by-line for Saints and whipped in a fine delivery that caused a moment of alarm for Martin Canning, the ball slicing off the player-manager's shin and over the bar when it could have gone anywhere. Canning should have done much better at the opposite end soon after when Crawford's free-kick from halfway found him unmarked inside the St Mirren area, but he seemed to lose his bearings and headed well wide. The St Mirren fans were screaming for a penalty at the start of the second half as Thompson claimed he was being pulled in the area by Ziggy Gordon, but referee Crawford Allan waved away their appeals for what would have been a soft-looking award. Thompson then created a great chance for the home side when he drifted wide before turning and floating a delightful ball into the path of John McGinn, the midfielder meeting the ball with his head as it bounced up off the slick surface and drawing a wonderful point-blank save from McGovern. They were not to be denied for long, though, and on 62 minutes Thompson moved St Mirren ahead. Kieran Sadlier, who had been substituted on for his debut at half-time, did well to drive inside from his station on the left flank before spreading the ball to Dayton on the opposite wing. Dayton drove past the challenge of Kieran MacDonald before clipping a lovely ball into the front post where Thompson volleyed beyond McGovern for his first league goal of an injury-hit season. Hamilton could have equalised almost immediately and again it was Canning who had a headed opportunity, getting a run on the St Mirren defence to meet Darian MacKinnon's lofted cross but heading straight at Marc Ridgers. Losing the goal seemed to belatedly bring Hamilton to life and Crawford had a good chance after riding a weak challenge on the edge of the box, but fired over from a narrow angle when a cross looked to be the better option. Canning then had his best opportunity of the match, when a free-kick wide on the right was beautifully clipped in by Crawford on to the head of the Hamilton boss, but he could only send his effort skidding wide of the right-hand post. That was to be as close as the visitors would come to an equaliser as St Mirren safely negotiated the final minutes to finally give their long-suffering home support something to cheer.