Hamilton 2 St Johnstone 4: Saints take Hallowe'en spoils from a real Jekyll and Hyde affair

Ghosts and ghouls go a-haunting, restless spirits make their malevolent presence known and football teams who find themselves being played off the park for a good half-an-hour somehow manage to end up dishing out a hammering.

Those of us who witnessed this resounding St Johnstone victory can still barely believe it. They were really quite awful against a Hamilton side that looked very much in the mood until Graham Cummins scored against the run of play with five minutes of the first half remaining.

From that point onwards, the complexion of the entire encounter changed very much in the way Jekyll turns to Hyde.

Cummins doubled Saints’ advantage just after the interval with David Wotherspoon and Michael O’Halloran completing the rout and recording a fifth consecutive away win for Saints for the first time since 1996 as poor Accies crumbled.

Jesus Garcia Tena did reduce the deficit with a late set-piece and an even later penalty-kick, but it was no consolation.

Martin Canning, the player-manager of the home side, must dread the very sight of St Johnstone. His last start in central defence came against them in April of this year at New Douglas Park and ended with him being sent off the park.

This affair proved to be even more unpleasant with perhaps the most difficult thing to comprehend being the fact that it all started so promisingly.

Hamilton seized control of the match from the off with Gramoz Kurtaj flashing a low shot just wide after six minutes and Christian Nade being denied from close-range by an excellent reflex save from Alan Mannus after moving onto a Kurtaj cross.

Nade headed the ball just wide from the resultant corner and Ali Crawford was next to threaten when sending a 25-yard effort over the crossbar on 17 minutes.

St Johnstone, with Steven Maclean left out of the squad largely due to his aversion to artificial surfaces, were struggling to create much in the final third and needed Mannus to come to the rescue again on 20 minutes when parrying a crisp free-kick from Jesus Garcia Tena.

Michael O’Neill, the Northern Ireland manager, was present to keep a close eye on Mannus and Hamilton’s Michael McGovern, currently his number one goalkeeper, and the St Johnstone man certainly gave him food for thought when producing some real acrobatics to tip a cross-cum-shot from Nade over the crossbar midway through the opening period.

It took half-an-hour for the visitors to register an effort of note. Garcia Tena was booked when bringing down Graham Cummins just outside the area and Liam Craig bent a dangerous free-kick just wide of McGovern’s right-hand post.

However, it was to signal something of a turning point in the match. With just five minutes until the interval, the Perth side took a wholly undeserved lead.

Darnell Fisher broke up play and fed the ball to Michael O’Halloran, who advanced into opposition territory before finding Brian Easton on the left. The former Hamilton full-back delivered an inviting cross into the heart of the danger area and Cummins timed his run perfectly to beat McGovern to his left from close range with a glancing header.

The sense of shock was still almost tangible amongst the home support as they settled back into their seats at the start of the second period. Four minutes in, what had, for so long, looked like being a profitable afternoon descended into a nightmare.

Cummins fed the ball to O’Halloran on the edge of the Hamilton area and continued his run into the penalty area. O’Halloran showed quick feet to make space and released a fine effort that McGovern did extremely well to save low to his left.

He could not divert the ball behind, though, and Cummins was on hand to rifle an angled effort into the net from the rebound.

The frustration among everyone in red-and-white was evident when Kurtaj had claims for a penalty waved away by referee Kevin Clancy after going down in the box under a challenge from Murray Davidson and that was only exacerbated on 63 minutes when St Johnstone went three in front.

Liam Craig swung a high, looping cross into the area after taking a pass from Cummins, McGovern failed miserably to deal with the danger by palming the ball straight to Wotherspoon and he showed commendable coolness to produce a clinical finish from 12 yards or so.

Within four minutes, it was 4-0. O’Halloran collected the ball midway inside the Hamilton and advanced to the edge of the box before releasing a quite magnificent right-footed shot that whizzed past the despairing dive of McGovern and into the corner of the net.

Garcia Tena did finally get the better of Mannus by bending a terrific free-kick into the net with nine minutes remaining and then converting a penalty in the final minute after Davidson had fouled him, but it was immaterial. Sometimes, not even Jesus can save you.

Hamilton Academical (4-1-4-1): McGovern; Gordon, Canning, Garcia Tena, Kurakins; Gillespie; Imrie, Crawford, Kurtaj (Docherty 74), Longridge (D’Acol 62); Nade (Morris 55).

St Johnstone (4-2-3-1): Mannus; Shaughnessy, Anderson, Scobbie, Easton; Fisher, Davidson; O’Halloran (Kane 85), Wotherspoon (Thomson 76), Craig; Cummins (Sutton 74).

Referee: Kevin Clancy.

Attendance: 2216.