Arbroath have moved off the bottom of the Championship with a gutsy 1-0 win over Hamilton at Gayfield.
A Bobby Linn strike in the first half was enough to seal the points as the Lichties recorded their first home league win of the season.
The visitors were reduced to 10 men midway through the second half with Dan O’Reilly shown a straight red for a lunge on Arbroath’s scorer.
Scott Allan should have doubled his side’s lead late on but the Angus side were able to hang on for the win.
Key moments
The weather was gloomy around Gayfield but Arbroath made a bright start to the action on the pitch.
And they were nearly ahead after eight minutes. Dylan Tait, Michael McKenna and Marcel Oakley combined to work a clever move down the right
The Birmingham loanee played a pass in to Daniel Fosu, who took a clever touch to take him away from the defender and rattled the inside of the post with a low shot.
The home fans had to wait 25 minutes for their side’s next real chance at goal.
Linn and McKenna had efforts in between but it was Fosu who came closest, striking the frame of the goal again.
The Englishman headed Scott Allan’s header on to the bar on 34 minutes.
Linn also came close with a powerful header but keeper Jamie Smith was equal to it.
For all of Arbroath’s endeavours, Hamilton had their chances too and should have found themselves 1-0 up on 43 minutes.
Derek Gaston hesitated to come for a bouncing ball at the edge of the box and Matthew Shiels got in to dink the ball past him.
However, Tam O’Brien was on hand to clear the danger as the ball trickled towards goal.
Arbroath could count themselves lucky and just a minute later, they were 1-0 up.
Allan found Linn in the box with a trademark through ball. The veteran forward then slotted past Smith for his fifth goal of the season on the stroke of half-time.
Hamilton started the second half brightly and were unlucky not to be level on 50 minutes.
Andy Winter found space in the box after the home side failed to clear a corner. The former Lichtie should have scored but blasted his shot right at Gaston who tipped it over for a corner.
From that set-piece, the Accies went close again with Andy Ryan, another former Lichties, heading wide at the back post.
Just as the away side were looking to move it up a level, they were down to 10 min.
Dan O’Reilly was shown a straight red card on 56 minutes for wiping out Linn.
The 37-year-old looked to be through on goal but was taken out with a high tackle deep in to the Accies’ half.
The game petered out a bit with Arbroath happy to control the play.
Then, on 83 minutes, they home side should have doubled their lead.
Isiaka burst through the middle with just the keeper to beat. However, Smith managed to shepherd the attacker wide.
Isiaka still managed to find Allan who was completely free in the box but he fluffed his effort in front of an open goal and Michael Doyle managed to clear the ball.
Star man – Bobby Linn
The 37-year-old winger rolled back the years to put in a match-winning performance.
Linn was at the heart of most of the Lichties attacks and his pace led to Hamilton being reduced to 10 men.
His goal was well taken, too, slotting home while bursting in to the box.
The Arbroath hero didn’t last the full 90 minutes but was the best player on the day.
Player ratings
Gaston 7; Oakley 8 (Gold 6), Little 7, O’Brien 7, Hamilton 7; Tait 7, Allan 7, Bitsindou 7, McKenna 7, Linn 9 (Corfe 5); Fosu 7 (Isiaka 5).
Subs not used: Gill, Jacobs, Shanks, Hancock.
Manager under the microscope
Dick Campbell made two changes to his side who started in the 1-0 defeat to Raith Rovers on Wednesday.
David Gold and Keaghan Jacobs dropped to the bench with Scott Allan and Daniel Fosu returning to the starting XI.
Dale Hilson was due to start but suffered a hamstring injury in the warm up and Fosu was called up as a late replacement.
On the 67th minute, Campbell made a double change with Oakley and Fosu making way for David Gold and Kareem Isiaka.
His third and final substitution came on 76 minutes with Bobby Linn making way for Deri Corfe.
Man in the middle – Peter Stuart
Peter Stuart had a quiet afternoon up until 56 minutes.
The referee gave out a straight red to Dan O’Reilly for a lunge on Bobby Linn as he looked to be through on goal.
The decision was met be dismay from the Accies’ players who surrounded the whistleblower.
They must have felt the foul was too far out to be deemed to be denying a goal-scoring opportunity.
Aside from the flash point, Stuart handled the game well and gave players a talking to when needed.
Arbroath bookings: McKenna (66), Isiaka (73), Little (90).
Hamilton bookings: Tiehi (90)
Hamilton sent off: O’Reilly (56)
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