Substitute Mason Bloomfield was the hero for 10-man Hamilton as they ended a run of five games without victory with a dramatic 1-0 Ladbrokes Premiership win over Livingston.
There were just three minutes remaining when the young Englishman raced clear of the Livi defence and dispatched the ball into the net for just the Accies’ third win of the season.
The game’s first chance arrived after 30 minutes when Fredrik Brustad was sent racing clear after some neat play in the midfield by Tom Taino and Scott Martin.
The Norwegian tried to thread his shot beyond Liam Kelly but the Livi keeper stood up well and parried the ball away. James Keatings was first onto the loose ball and went down under the challenge of Craig Halkett but referee Alan Muir deemed the challenge legal.
The visitors enjoyed a good spell prior to the half-time whistle with Craig Sibbald first firing over the bar with the aid of a deflection and then Shaun Byrne curling just wide of the post after the former Falkirk man had laid him off.
Gary Holt’s side very nearly hit the front at the start of the second period. First, Scott Pittman was sent clear by a defence-splitting Sibbald pass. He drove forward but in similar style to Burstad, could not find the deserved finish past Gary Woods as the Accies keeper made a good reflex save.
An error from the hesitant Delphin Tshiembe then allowed the lively Dolly Menga to stride clear once again. The Angolan forward looked certain to score as Woods closed him down. His shot was angled away from the keeper but it also drifted agonisingly past the post as another major one-on-one opportunity went begging.
Mickel Miller then saw red for two mistimed challenges but, incredibly, less than a minute later, Accies hit the front through substitute Mason Bloomfield. The hard work was done by Steven Boyd who broke clear and fed the ball through for Bloomfield who took one touch and thumped the ball beyond Kelly.
The visitors had a great opportunity to level matters in the closing stages when Egli Kaja crossed for Bobby Burns but the Northern Irish youth international could only send his close-range effort smashing off the crossbar as Accies held on for just their second home win of the season.
