McInnes praises ‘magnificent’ Dons despite shock loss

Michael Devlin’s early goal hauled Hamilton three places off the bottom of the Ladbrokes Premiership after they withstood an onslaught against Aberdeen last night.

Devlin volleyed home from a ninthminute set-piece and Accies survived some sustained and intense pressure as Aberdeen missed more than a dozen noteworthy chances.

The Dons, who were without Jonny Hayes because of a hamstring injury, squandered the chance to move 12 points clear of Rangers in second place on another frustrating night at the SuperSeal Stadium. Two of Hamilton’s four Premiership wins this season have now come against Aberdeen and, just like their earlier triumph in October, this ended a long winning run for their opponents, this time a five-match stretch.

The goal came from Danny Redmond’s free-kick from inside the centre circle.

Devlin got his foot to the delivery ahead of Ash Taylor and hooked it into the corner of the net from around the penalty spot.

Dons manager Derek McInnes was proud of his players’ performance.

“We expected a tough match but it was actually not as tough as we thought, even though we lost the game,” he said.

“I thought we had total dominance of the game. I was enjoying watching us, I was enjoying the fact that we weren’t panicking, I was enjoying the fact that we weren’ t letting the situation get the better of us.”

Accies climbed from bottom to ninth place in the Premiership after their fourth win of the season.

Manager Martin Canning said: “I thought defensively we were magnificent. I would say that’s probably the game this season that we have been on the back foot the most.

“I think it’s 24 points we have lost from a winning position, so we have put ourselves in that position so many times and not been able to do what we have done tonight and see the game out.”

Michael Devlin celebrates the only goal of the game.