Oh, how Kilmarnock are coming to rue that half-time whistle. For the second time in successive matches, they led at the interval only for their opponents to come roaring back to seal victory.
Where they had succumbed to Hearts in the League Cup during midweek having held an advantage at the break, Gary Locke’s side offered more of the same – dominating the opening period and taking the lead through Greg Kiltie only to throw it all away.
Just as Hearts had done, Hamilton roared back in the second half and claimed the points with goals from Dougie Imrie and Ali Crawford.
Lee Ashcroft received a straight red card in the final minute of stoppage time for a tug on Imrie when clean-through on goal.
Crawford revealed that it was the stern words from Canning at the break that woke Accies from their slumber.
“It was crucial that we didn’t lose another goal before half-time, which gave us a chance to rectify our mistakes from the first half.”
Kilmarnock opened well when a direct run through the centre of the park by Tope Obadeyi allowed him to play in Kiltie, but Michael McGovern blocked the midfielder’s effort.
He had another great chance after half an hour, when a shot was blocked, but his next effort careered off Jesus Garcia Tena from close range.
Kiltie wasn’t to be denied though, and it was third time lucky as he finally got the reward for his perseverance with the opener after 34 minutes.
Kallum Higginbotham was afforded the freedom of the midfield to advance on the Hamilton backline and he slipped a perfectly-timed pass into Kiltie who slotted past McGovern into the bottom corner.
Hamilton weren’t playing with anything like their usual fluency, although they might have got a route back into the game when Imrie went down in the area under a forceful challenge from Mark O’Hara, but referee Don Robertson denied them a penalty.
Hamilton didn’t have to wait long for the equaliser, regaining parity just four minutes into the half as Dougie Imrie netted his second goal in two games in spectacular fashion.
A ball over the top by Crawford found Imrie scampering into space behind the Kilmarnock defence, and just when he looked to have taken the ball a little wide, he unleashed a rocket of a left-foot effort that bounced off the underside of the bar and up into the roof of the net.
Greg Docherty broke beyond Kevin McHattie on Hamilton’s right and squared for Crawford who tapped home from six yards. McHattie then had an opportunity to level with a free-kick after Antons Kurakins had fouled O’Hara, but his effort was blocked by McGovern.
Ashcroft bundled Imrie over when running through on MacDonald, before Ziggy Gordon’s header was cleared off the line by O’Hara.
Kilmarnock manager Locke wasn’t too downbeat though despite a second defeat of the week from a winning position. He said: “We played some good football across the game but we’ve got to be more ruthless. We had plenty of chances to get back into the game.”
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