This was meant to be the cup shock.
With Hamilton sitting proudly atop the Championship and beating all-comers in their own division, it wasn’t a surprise that some expected a surprise. It didn’t happen though.
Instead a professional performance from an attack-minded St Johnstone side made for an ultimately comfortable victory for the Premiership team.
Stevie May who else? produced the perfect start for Saints in this League Cup third round clash, heading into the Hamilton net off a post with just four minutes gone.
That was how an entertaining first half finished but an opportunistic strike from sub Gwion Edwards made it 2-0 late in the second period and May battered home a spectacular injury-time third goal.
So instead of falling victim to a giant-killing, the Perth men strode confidently into the next stage of the tournament. Saints had made two changes to the starting line-up at Celtic Park on Saturday.
In came strike duo May and Nigel Hasselbaink, while David Wotherspoon dropped down to the bench and Murray Davidson missed out completely.
With less than a minute gone, May picked up possession and ran at the home defence. Had Steven MacLean reached his teammate’s forward pass instead of missing it by a yard then it would have been 1-0 to the visitors.
That was merely a sign of things to come, though, and the Perth men took the lead in just four minutes.
May was the early goal hero, jumping to nod home in off keeper Kevin Cuthbert’s right-hand post after a Dave Mackay cross had been headed back across goal by MacLean.
It was a great start for Saints and for the man who served Hamilton so well while on loan. The game swung from end to end without any side really threatening until Accies struck the woodwork on 18 minutes.
It was a terrific spin from Tony Andreu at the edge of the area created space for a curling shot that clipped the far post before bouncing away to safety.
That was a close one and on 25 minutes the hosts had another go but this time Saints keeper Alan Mannus did really well to hold full-back Ziggy Gordon’s shot following a slick Hamilton passing move.
Indeed, both teams were moving the ball about well and making the most of the wet surface as rain soaked the pitch.
With 36 minutes on the clock, the Premiership team came close to making it 2-0 when former Saints goalie Cuthbert got his fingertips to a MacLean shot and had to hope for the best as May just missed with the rebound.
Tommy Wright’s side were troubling Hamilton with each foray forward and a ball MacLean just a minute later cried out to be blasted into the net but instead went untouched.
As the half came to a close it was the home team who were on the front foot, with Andreu letting fly with a shot from 20 yards that sailed past the far post.
With the second period just four minutes old, Hasselbaink nearly finished off a rampaging run with a goal but, after cutting open the Accies’ defence, his low shot was well held by Cuthbert.
St Johnstone were attacking well but there were a couple of red faces on 59 minutes when May and Hasselbaink both produced fresh-air shots in the same move.
Hamilton then made a change, bringing on Andy Ryan for Jon McShane as they tried to somehow find a leveller.
There was a scare for the visitors when defender Frazer Wright needed treatment but, after loosening up his sore shoulder, he raced back on to the pitch.
However, Wright was flattened again just seconds later and this time the challenge earned sub Ryan a deserved yellow card.
Thankfully, the Perth player dusted himself off and started all over again. With 71 minutes gone, a MacLean cross was met by the head of Hasselbaink but the wee man was stretching and could only send the ball harmlessly by the far post.
That was Hasselbaink’s last contribution as he made way for Edwards with a quarter of an hour to play. Home defender Mikey Devlin then popped up in the St Johnstone box for a free-kick but his header never bothered Mannus.
Devlin was at it again when he appeared inside the opposition’s area for a second time. He sent his shot wide but it showed that Hamilton were still in the tie and hungry for an equaliser.
However, it was St Johnstone who found the net to wrap things up with just four minutes to go. Edwards, showing terrific alertness, pounced on defensive dithering from Hamilton to secure the victory.
It was as easy a debut goal as you could wish for, with keeper Cuthbert blundering to leave Edwards with a tap-in. That would have been enough to see them home but St Johnstone wanted more.
On a night when there were no surprises, it was entirely predictable that it was May who rattled in the third goal of the game, a shot from 25 yards in stoppage time that gave Cuthbert absolutely no chance.