Hamilton Academical have beaten Motherwell 2-0 at New Douglas Park in their first match since the Scottish Premiership annual split this evening.
The Accies, who just missed out on a spot in the top half of the split, came under pressure early on as Lionel Ainsworth tried to curl the ball in from the edge of the box, but Michael McGovern kept hold of it.
The hosts started to see more of the ball as the first half progressed, and opened the scoring with a little over 10 minutes played as Ali Crawford fired the ball forward from a free kick, setting up Jason Scotland for a tap-in.
Crawford could have added to the score himself before the break, but Stephen McManus turned his shot behind for a corner, which Dougie Imrie could not head in from.
Motherwell started to look dangerous as half time approached, but Marvin Johnson struck the crossbar with his drilled effort, while Lee Erwin saw his finish saved.
Hamilton made a strong start to the second half, resulting in Darian McKinnon blasting a 20-yard strike towards the visitors' goal, only for George Long to parry it clear.
The hosts doubled their lead just a couple of minutes later though as Imrie provided a low cross into the box, setting up Crawford to slice it into the bottom right corner.
Nigel Hasselbaink and Lucas both had chances to make it three for Accies with more than 20 minutes still to play, but the hosts could not put the victory beyond doubt.
The visitors started to threaten again in the closing stages in a bid to rescue a point, but John Sutton headed wide while trying to nod the ball home from a free kick.
Lee Erwin's long-range strike then failed to beat the keeper, ensuring that Hamilton saw out the win.
Sian Cowper
