A 10-man Queens side saw defeat for the fourth game in a row at New Douglas Park, as mid-table Hamilton secured their first back-to-back win in two years through a winner from youngster Andy Winter.
Queens yet again were defeated just marginally, making this also the fourth game in a row where they have been bested by just one goal. The real tide turner of the game came in the form of a red card for Queens man Ben Liddle in the 40th minute.
Wullie Gibsons side knew they would be in for a challenge, travelling to an on-form Hamilton side that has only been defeated once so far in 2022. However, as always Queens, despite their poor form would battle it out as they try to climb away from the bottom of the table nearing the end of the season.
Looking to bounce back from their 2-1 defeat to Kilmarnock the week prior, Wullie Gibson made five changes to his team.
The first half for the most part seemed to be very similar to the Kilmarnock game. Hamilton mostly dominated, but Queens had moments where they looked very threatening on the break.
Just 11 minutes in, Queens midfielder Ben Liddle was lucky to only see yellow after a dangerous tackle on Andy Ryan. The first real chance of the game came soon after this for Hamilton as a game of pinball in the box led to a deflected effort by Jamie Hamilton going out for a corner.
It was 21 minutes into the game when Queens nearly opened the scoring, tidy play from Gibson, Todd, and Connelly down the left-hand side of the pitch led to the ball ending up at the feet of Innes Cameron in the middle. Sadly, his effort failed to work Ryan Fulton and was caught easily enough.
The remainder of the first half was occupied by an onslaught of Accies attacks. They came close from a few crossed efforts but were unable to find goal through missed finishes and good defending. Both David Moyo and Dan OReilly found themselves free on the end of crosses but both attempts flew wide of Queens sticks.
The most pivotal moment of the first half came just five minutes before the half-time whistle as Ben Liddle, who could have arguably been showed red earlier was shown a second yellow for pulling down Andy Winter.
Hamilton looked the better side going into half-time but neither sides keepers were really tested through the course of the first 45.
Accies came flying out in the second half, putting a lot of pressure on the Queens defence. The extra man became very evident quite quickly with the Doonhamers struggling to get any solid control of play.
The subsequent pressure almost paid off as Moyo took advantage of a big mistake from Josh Rae as he nabbed the ball from Rae, but was unable to exploit the chance as the ball rolled out of play.
Another huge chance for Accies came soon after this. As a Kieran MacDonald corner led to a big scramble in the box which resulted in player-manager Wullie Gibson impressively clearing an Accies effort of the line.
Queens were still yet to do much of anything in the second half with the Accies continuing to put them under the cosh. They had quite a few missed opportunities from corners and then began to test Rae a lot more, forcing the Queens man to pull off a few saves to keep them in the game.
Unfortunately, the Hamilton bombardment of the Doonhamers ultimately led to the side going 1-0 up in the 65th minute. A neat ball from OReilly left Andy Winter in an abundance of space, the 20-year-old then composed himself, drew out Rae and calmly nestled the ball in the far corner
There wasnt too much action for the remainder of the tie. Josh Rae was tested a few more times in the match, making a fantastic save to palm the ball over the bar from an Andy Ryan effort.
Queens did begin to take some more control over the play, comfortably holding onto possession but failing to compose many dangerous attacks. Hamilton sitting deep did offer the Doonhamers some hope of an equaliser but unfortunately on the day it wasnt possible.
The game subsequently finished 1-0, giving Hamilton four wins for four against Queens for the season.
Hamilton moved up to sixth place in the league while Queens stayed at rock bottom, still three points away from Dunfermline after their defeat to Inverness CT.
This defeat for Queens comes just before Challenge Cup final clash against Raith Rovers. Lets hope as we approach the game that recent form can be forgotten and we can shine a light on what has been a difficult season and bring the Challenge Cup back to Dumfries for a third time.