St Mirren 1 Hamilton 0
Thompson 62
WILL today be the day? The tweet from the St Mirren official website yesterday morning, as they looked to drum up some late traffic ahead of the visit of Hamilton Accies, didn't go into any more detail. But when a team hasn't won a league game at home all season, no further explanation is really needed. It is about the only thing St Mirren supporters have been talking about for months.
The answer to the question turned out to be a resounding yes. Almost nine months since they last picked up three points in front of their own fans, there was at last joy at home for St Mirren, their delight and relief compounded by a first home clean sheet of the campaign. At the 15th time of asking, this most persistent of monkeys was finally off their backs.
Not for the first time, St Mirren had Steven Thompson to thank for a telling contribution. The 36 year-old has endured an injury-riddled season but there was little wrong with his movement as he got in front of his marker to touch in James Dayton's cross after 62 minutes. It was Thompson's first goal of the campaign and it would prove to be an important one.
"It has been a difficult season for me both physically and mentally with injuries," admitted the striker. "The last three or four weeks have been the first time since last June that I've been pain-free and been able to build up my strength and get where I need to be. Some people can be ageist but I'm desperate to prove them wrong and show I can still lead the line and put a shift in."
The only thing that could possibly have taken some of the shine off the victory was the fact that the three sides around them in the table - Partick Thistle, Ross County and Motherwell - all secured wins as well but manager Gary Teale was happy to focus on his own team.
"I hope that's the mental block gone about the home form," he said. "We've had performances in the past that merited victories and it's something I never mentioned to the players. Hopefully, I'll be sitting here at the end of the season having won every one of our remaining home games."
It will also have pleased Teale that his three debutants were among the team's best performers. Viktor Genev, a no-nonsense Bulgarian defender last spotted playing in Kazakhstan, lasted only 45 minutes before succumbing to a hamstring injury but cut a confident figure during his time on the field. He could have embroidered a solid start with an early goal only for Michael McGovern to thrust out a hand to keep out his header.
Alan Gow also impressed on his first senior game in almost exactly a year. The much-travelled forward had two decent dunts on goal, the first comfortably held by McGovern while the second, a more lofted attempt, had the goalkeeper scrambling backwards to touch it over the crossbar. When Gow shuffled off after 78 minutes it was to a warm round of applause.
Genev's departure led to a tactical reshuffle and a half-time debut for Kieran Sadlier. A lively cameo included a mazy run across the face of the Hamilton box that led to the only goal of the game.
While St Mirren remain immersed in a relegation scrap that could go on for some time yet, Hamilton, in their gold and white away strip, will be grateful their strong start to the season has spared them a similar fate. This was a ninth match in succession without a victory since manager Alex Neil departed for Norwich City, and they have now scored just once in their last eight games. They are in danger of sliding out of the top six before the split and Martin Canning, still seeking his first win as manager, did not spare his players afterwards.
"St Mirren are fighting for their lives but my boys are fighting to stay in the team," he said. "I won't accept that performance today. It's well below the standards I believe they are capable of."
Hamilton barely registered a threat on goal, their three best chances all coming from Canning headers. The manager, though, could not show his players the way to goal."It was a good ball in from Ali Crawford [for the second chance] and I tried to glance it in the corner," he added. "In hindsight I should have just tried to hit the target."
ST MIRREN (4-2-3-1): Ridgers; Naismith, Goodwin, Genev (Sadlier 46), Tesselaar; Mallan, McGinn; Dayton (Sonupe 87), Gow (Wylde 78), Kelly; Thompson
Subs not used: Kello, Reilly, Baird, Arquin
Booked: Dayton 48
HAMILTON (4-4-2): McGovern; Gordon, Canning, Devlin, MacDonald; Imrie, Routledge, Crawford, Mackinnon (Longridge 88); Hasselbaink, Scotland (Brophy 67)
Subs not used: Hill, Lyon, Lynch, Redmond, Tagliapetra
Booked: Mackinnon 48, Gordon 62, Routledge 75
Ref: Crawford Allan
Att: 3503
Man of the Match: Alan Gow
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