Partick Thistle 1 Hamilton 2

Scotland saves comeback kings

Anyone witnessing the celebrations which followed Kallum Higginbotham’s spectacular goal five minutes from time would have assumed Thistle were the winners here and they probably should have been.

Call it complacency or a lack of professionalism, but Thistle managed to throw it all away in the time it takes to say “Firhill for thrills”.

That said, Accies produced a comeback to match the play-off win over Hibs at Easter Road which took them into the top flight and take all three points.

The victory puts Hamilton on to nine points from four games, while Partick are on four points from three games after suffering their first defeat.

There was no doubting the quality of Higginbotham’s strike a 25-yard volley from Stephen O’Donnell’s throw-in but, equally, the resilience of this Accies side is beyond question.

Tony Andreu took advantage of slack defending to fire home the equaliser and Jason Scotland showed all of his experience to drill the winner behind Paul Gallacher in stoppage time after being sent clear by Ali Crawford. It was no less than they deserved.

Thistle survived a combined goal and penalty scare as early as the second minute. Dougie Imrie sent Louis Longridge clear, with the winger favourite to score. However, he delayed his shot, which allowed Paul Gallacher to turn the ball away, although Longridge seemed to be barged in the back by Aaron Muirhead just as he pulled his foot back.

That rather set the tone for a match which had no shortage of openings but a lack of composure which would have seen them converted into something more palpable. Like a goal.

Hamilton were comfortable for the opening third of the game and Thistle had to be grateful to Conrad Balatoni for the goal-saving tackle which prevented Mickael Antoine-Curier.

Thistle manager Alan Archibald once again decided to leave last season’s top scorer, Kris Doolan, on the bench, thus operating without a recognised forward.

Ryan Stevenson was the nominal target man but he wasted the best opportunity of the first half when he shot straight at Michael McGovern after being released by Dale Keenan. It was a chance Doolan would have relished.

Even so, that opening signalled a sea change in proceedings. Thistle, who had earlier struggled to find a foothold in the game, suddenly began to run the show.

McGovern saved from Higginbotham and Lawless while Gary Fraser missed the target from 15 yards but Thistle lacked a cutting edge and that will count against them this season if they cannot address the issue before the transfer window closes on September 1.

Accies boss Alex Neil said: “The resilience and character this team has shown over the last year has been nothing short of remarkable and we showed it again today.”

Hamilton’s future now looks a whole lot brighter than it did after their opening-day defeat at home to Inverness.

Their three successive wins have pushed them into second place and the earlier worries about them being involved in a relegation battle look to have been misplaced.

On Saturday they are at home to wretched Ross County and another victory would see them 12 points clear of the Highlanders. Few would bet against that outcome now.