A FALSE fire alarm prior to the start of the game resulted in Hamilton’s PA system blaring out an emergency message on a loop.
The fault was fixed and kick-off delayed 10 minutes, but there are malfunctions in the St Mirren side that new manager Oran Kearney fears could take longer to erase – “scars” being his word of choice.
The resolute manner of the 0-0 draw against Celtic in his opening game in charge was set aside for the loop of errors St Mirren fans were more accustomed to under his predecessor Alan Stubbs to resume.
Between the 36th and 40th minute, St Mirren went 2-0 down.
Mickel Miller slipped Steven Boyd in and his shot was only parried into the path of Fredrik Brustad, who bundled the ball into the net.
Miller then made it 2-0, blasting home from the penalty spot after substitute Jordan Kirkpatrick was adjudged to have illegally halted the run of Dougie Imrie.
Yet up until Hamilton scored the opener, it was the visitors who had the better opportunities; Cammy MacPherson curling a free-kick just wide, Hamilton defender Shaun Want brilliantly sliding in to block Ryan Flynn’s goal-bound effort and Matthew Kilgallon thwarting Danny Mullen’s run in on goal.
But that was it from Saints, as Kearney readily admitted.
“Apart from the first 15 minutes in the first half when we looked like we could create something and get a goal, the manner of it after that was disappointing,” said Kearney.
“Goals change games and I suppose there are a few scars from what went on earlier in the season in relation to losing goals in that manner.
“Without the ball today we weren’t good but with the ball I thought we were probably worse.”
Miller was excellent with it for Hamilton and added the third in the 66th minute, seizing on a loose ball around 25 yards from goal before striking a left-footed shot which saw the ball thud off one post and roll into the net off the other.
The Miller/Boyd combination could have made it four – with the two-goal hero sliding in the No.30, who struck the bar from an angle. It mattered not and Hamilton comfortably saw out only their second league victory of the season.
“We had the quality and composure to go and play when we won the ball,” said delighted Hamilton manager Martin Canning.
“It was an all-round good day.
“We’ve got to now look and try and build on it.”
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