Hamilton Acas 3 / St Johnstone 4
Natasha Woods at New Douglas Park

SELDOM could a silence have sounded so anguished. In the main stand at New Douglas Park, one St Johnstone fan dropped to the floor and hammered the cold concrete under his fists, pointlessly railing against the information just imparted by the disembodied voice on the radio. At the same moment, down in the visitors' dressing room, Owen Coyle's players knew their fate when Steven Milne's face turned ashen.

The injured player was the squad's own radio man, tuned in to events at Dingwall as Gretna's game - courtesy of a five minute delay to kick-off - delivered a late winning goal for the First Division leaders, robbing St Johnstone of promotion to the Premierleague. Milne didn't even need to say anything; his expression told its own sad tale.

Eight minutes after their own game had finished in a thrilling 4-3 win over Hamilton, some 3000 St Johnstone fans were given official confirmation of the scoreline from Victoria Park. Gretna had won at the death, and with cruel timing for their challengers some 200 miles further south.

"It is the nature of football," observed Coyle, the St Johnstone manager attempting pragmatism amid tears from both fans and players. "We love football because there are so many highs and lows. But this one was certainly hard to take. As many times as you are on a high there is a kick in the teeth around the corner and this was probably the worst one ever today."

When the referee blew the final whistle on Hamilton's plastic pitch yesterday afternoon, St Johnstone were up. But only theoretically so. In reality, Gretna still had a few minutes to turn a draw into a victory. And Coyle, a decent man in incredibly difficult circumstances, credited his club's great rivals for doing exactly that.

All week the manager's mantra had never changed; all his players could focus on was beating Hamilton to at least force Gretna to match that feat. How St Johnstone set about that task yesterday.

Hamilton were in danger of being blown away in a first half which saw three goals for the visitors and a virtuoso response from Hamilton's teenage prodigy James McCarthy. Nerves often strangle games of such importance; in this case the pressure and prize on offer delivered a match made epic by both the glut of goals and pounding emotions.

St Johnstone stormed the first half, and Hamilton's youngsters responded in the second. As a stand-alone fixture it was compelling. Given the circumstances, it was impossible not to be caught up in the occasion.

Kevin James, the St Johnstone captain, gave his side the lead midway through the first half, heading home a Paul Sheerin corner. At 6ft 7in, the centre-half barely had to jump to make his height advantage count.

Even before James had got on the scoresheet, the peculiar nature of the afternoon had been illustrated when a false alarm prompted the travelling support onto their feet to acclaim a goal in Dingwall, only for the celebrations to be curtailed when it became clear Ross County had not taken the lead against Gretna.

Still, there was plenty to exercise the vocal cords, for St Johnstone's hunger for victory was voracious. Sean Murdoch, the Hamilton goalkeeper, kept the St Johnstone advantage to just one when he turned a shot from Peter MacDonald around his post, but the link-up play between MacDonald and his strike partner Jason Scotland was proving too much for Hamilton.

Just on the half hour mark, the visitors did score a second, James again getting a vital touch in the box to set up Martin Hardie to fire home form close range.

Scotland made it 3-0 before the break with a calm finish after he and MacDonald had unlocked Hamilton's offside trap, but there was still time for the home side to open their account with a McCarthy shot that involved instant control, vision and technique from just inside the area.

At half-time St Johnstone were 3-1 up, but it was Gretna who were in the promotion spot as they led Ross County. During the break, Coyle told his players to expect more twists and turns, but even he couldn't have predicted what was to follow.

Hamilton responded with a glorious strike from Richard Offiong and a clear chip from Brian Wake, but sandwiched between those two goals was another for Hardie - a low drive from distance which effectively secured St Johnstone the points.

What it didn't do was secure promotion. That hope was dashed in the most painful circumstances. But Coyle, not a man for cliches, could have been forgiven one last night. "That is football," he said.