Hamilton Academical vs St. Johnstone. Scottish Premiership.
The HopeCBD Stadium.
Match report as St Johnstone move off the foot of the Scottish Premiership table and into ninth; Callum Davidson's side had only scored once in seven league games and none in the last four before Saturday's emphatic 5-3 win
Saturday 17 October 2020 21:24, UK
St Johnstone edged out Hamilton 5-3 in an eight-goal Premiership thriller courtesy of doubles from Stevie May and Craig Conway.
The Saints raced to a three-goal lead during a dominant opening half-hour after former Accies man May gave them the lead in under a minute.
The 27-year-old scored 25 goals on loan at Accies during the 2012-13 season but he headed the visitors ahead after steering David Wotherspoon's cross past Ryan Fulton.
Accies failed to lay a glove on their impressive opponents in the opening stages as Wotherspoon turned from provider to goalscorer to double St Johnstone's advantage after 13 minutes.
Ali McCann found himself in space on the edge of the area and squared it for the 30-year-old to fire low past the despairing dive of Fulton into the bottom corner.
It went from bad to worse for Hamilton when May looked to have wrapped up the three points when he grabbed his second goal of the afternoon after 33 minutes.
The diminutive striker managed to nip in front of his defender to flick Conway's header into the bottom corner.
Hamilton looked defeated but, with a slice of luck, they battled their way back into the contest.
Ronan Hughes showed great perseverance to break from midfield and, although he burst past Liam Gordon with a lucky deflection, the substitute fired a brilliant low finish beyond Zander Clark in the 40th minute.
Hughes' strike seemed to galvanise the hosts and they pulled another goal back after 44 minutes.
Scott McMann found the towering presence of Marios Ogkmpoe with a cross and the Greek striker looped a header home to give Accies hope.
Hamilton pressed for an equaliser after the break but lacked creativity although Clark had to be alert to tip Kyle Munro's dangerous cross away.
St Johnstone remained a threat on the break and they extended their lead on the counter-attack in the 69th minute. Man of the match May raced down the right flank and showed great vision to square for Conway to smash home.
Hamilton refused to give up and Hughes grabbed his second after 80 minutes, firing home after Ross Callahan's powerful strike rebounded off the bar
Just minutes later, though, Conway ensured the three points would be travelling back to Perth when he fired a stunning free-kick past Fulton into the top corner.
Hamilton manager Brian Rice said: "We scored three goals at home and it is not often you see Hamilton do that but we still did not take anything from the game. I am not disappointed with the effort, just the result.
"I get satisfaction from the effort they put in and there is a way of losing games and they gave it everything they had. We had four strikers on the pitch and we set up to win the game.
"You sink or swim and I did not see anybody jumping off the ship there but we gave ourselves too much to do."
St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson said: "I thought attacking-wise we were really good today. We moved the ball well, got in behind and took our chances which was pleasing to see.
"We conceded three goals so we can do better defensively but the character of the players to keep going and going was pleasing. I'm delighted for them. We couldn't score a goal at the start of the season and now we have 12 in two games so hopefully we can keep going.
"It's always difficult going into the lead because you have to keep going. All credit to Hamilton because they kept fighting and made it a game. It's probably a better game to watch than it is to manage."
Hamilton will be in midweek Scottish Premiership action when they travel to Aberdeen on Tuesday (kick-off 7pm). They then make another trip to St Mirren on Saturday (kick-off 3pm). For St Johnstone, they will host Dundee United in the Scottish Premiership next Saturday (kick-off 3pm).
