KILMARNOCK's strong start to the season meant that even after suffering seven defeats in eight games they still hadn't been drawn into the relegation picture.
It would only have been human, however, had they cast their minds back to what happened to Hibernian last season and wondered whether the same could possibly happen to them. Hibs, lest anyone have forgotten, got themselves into an almighty funk where they simply couldn't win a game, a run of poor results that saw them slip further and further down the table until they were eventually relegated via the play-offs.
Kilmarnock were still some way off of that sort of calamity but approaching Saturday's game against Hamilton Academical they could surely have been forgiven for wondering what it would take to arrest their dreadful sequence of results before the situation became critical. After all, they had not won a game since mid-October and not prospered in front of their own fans at Rugby Park since the start of that month. When a team simply can't remember how to win, it is only natural if it starts to seep into the players' minds.
Saturday's 1-0 victory, then, was more than just three points. It signalled an end to two months of turmoil and frustration, the relief almost tangible at full-time as the fans headed for the exits and Kilmarnock ended 2014 on a high.
"We started the season really well and, looking at the table, we're still well away from the likes of St Mirren with the good start we've had," said midfielder Jamie Hamill. "But we knew that you cannot continue to lose games because you will get dragged back into it. Other teams will get results.
"So this win will give everyone a lift going into the game against St Mirren on New Years Day, which we are all looking for to."
It took a special moment from a special player to secure that long-awaited victory. Alexei Eremenko may be short of fitness, and plagued by back, hamstring and other problems, but from the moment he stepped up to take a free kick deep into injury time, there was little doubt over where the ball was heading.
"Alexei is a special player," confirmed Hamill. "You see it every day in training. You could see it with the free-kick he put into the top corner. The goalkeeper never got a sniff of it. He's got a sore back and stuff, but that Russian mentality just says: I'm taking it, no-one else! Luckily he did and gave us three points in the end."
Hamill hoped the victory could provide the launchpad for a sustained run of positive results going into 2015. "We started [the season] with a good run and I cannot see why we cannot go on another one. You look at the likes of St Johnstone, who have picked 15 points from the last 15 available.
"It just shows that when you are playing with a wee bit of confidence, things can start falling for you, like wee knock-downs or breaks in the box. I'm hoping we can kick-on so that we can start looking up the table as opposed to glancing over our shoulders at the teams behind us."
This loss was a rare lowpoint in an otherwise glorious 2014 for Hamilton. After taking advantage of Hibs' freefall to assume heir place in the division, they have surpassed all expectations by competing at the top end of the SPFL Premiership and remain just six points behind leaders Celtic. They will look to get back in the saddle with a Lanarkshire derby against Motherwell on January 1.
"Do we look back on 2014 with pride? Yeah absolutely," said defender Michael Devlin. "We've really succeeded both with winning promotion from the Championship and then going on and succeeding in the Premiership. Everyone can be proud of what we've done, but it's only one year.
"We need to push on now and look at how we can better ourselves. We'll analyse this game and then focus on the next one because that's what we are all about.
"We all believe we are good enough to play in this league and succeed in it. The manager has us doing the right things and we'll get back to it."
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