St Johnstone 0 Hamilton 1

A first-half opener from Tony Andreu earned Hamilton a hard-earned victory over 10-man St Johnstone to move to just one point off Premiership leaders Aberdeen. Andreu volleyed in a Stephen Hendrie cross in the 34th minute to ensure Accies built on a stunning 5-0 victory over Lanarkshire rivals Motherwell on New Year's Day. And St Johnstone's hopes of snatching a point slipped away as time wore on when James McFadden was sent-off after being shown a second yellow card in the 84th minute. Winger Dougie Imrie managed the first effort on target for Hamilton in the eighth minute but saw home keeper Alan Mannus block with his body before collecting it at the second attempt. Two minutes later, it was St Johnstone's turn to threaten as they came close to an early breakthrough. Lee Croft's corner from the left sparked a goalmouth scramble that was brought to an end when Michael O'Halloran fired in a drive which hit the bar. Hamilton looked more comfortable in possession than their hosts but, with Mickael Antoine-Curier's shot flashing across the target in the 19th minute, were struggling to find the attacking prowess they showed three days previously against Motherwell. With play swinging from one end to the other, McFadden - fit again after a hamstring problem - was next to threaten when he drifted in from the right flank but his eventual drive from 20 yards finished a couple of feet wide. An Imrie shot for Hamilton held at his near post by Mannus sparked a spell of pressure from the visitors, with Mikey Devlin having a header deflected wide and then another clawed away from the top corner by Mannus in the midst of threeconsecutive corners. And with 33 minutes gone, Accies took the lead. Devlin's diagonal pass found the overlapping Stephen Hendrie and the full-back's cross was coolly volleyed in by the unmarked Andreu 10 yards out. The goal added further life to an already feisty match and Antoine-Curier should have done better than screw his shot well wide after being played through on goal by Ali Crawford's defence-splitting pass seven minutes from the interval. Seven minutes after the break, Hamilton came within a whisker of a second. St Johnstone claimed for a handball as Imrie forced his way to the bye-line and Antoine-Curier's poked shot from 12 yards out beat Mannus on its way to the net. However, Steven Anderson got a block on the effort and the ball looped up and crashed back off the crossbar before being hacked clear. As Accies continued to look the more threatening, Saints manager Tommy Wright had clearly seen enough and brought off Brian Graham and Croft in favour of Steven MacLean and David Wotherspoon in the 58th minute. The newly-introduced players were not involved but the home side could have been level just two minutes later. McFadden delivered a magnificent corner from the right but Frazer Wright could not keep his header down, despite finding space for an effort inside the six-yard box. The substitutions had allowed the home side to switch to a 4-4-2 formation, with O'Halloran moved up front and it was the former Scotland under-21 cap who was handed a chance to restore parity in the 68th minute. Dave Mackay won possession just inside the Hamilton half and threaded a great ball into the path of O'Halloran but the forward was crowded out and could not squeeze his shot past McGovern. Four minutes later the Perth outfit threatened again. O'Halloran won possession on the halfway line on a swift break and played in McFadden who, in turn, tried to find his team-mate. But Jon Routledge sprinted back to get a toe to the cross, which fell kindly into the arms of McGovern on his line. With Saints pushing hard for an equaliser as time wore on, their chances were not made any easier when McFadden was sent-off five minutes from time. The former Scotland striker, who had already been booked for a foul on Imrie in the first-half, was shown a second yellow card after committing a needless foul as a Saints attack broke down.