St Johnstone 2-0 Hamilton: Easy Scottish Cup win for Perth side
- Published
Jason Kerr got to the ball before Ryan Fulton to head St Johnstone in front
St Johnstone eased past Scottish Premiership rivals Hamilton Academical to reach the Scottish Cup's last 16.
Jason Kerr headed the hosts in front in the first minute and Tony Watt soon added a second.
And Chris Kane could have added to their lead with a second-half header just over the crossbar.
Tony Andreu, back in the Accies side after rejoining the club on loan from Coventry City, had an effort saved on a disappointing day for the visitors.
Martin Canning's side rarely looked like getting back into the tie and they exit the competition in the fourth round for the fourth time in five years.
The match had barely started by the time Tommy Wright's side went in front, Liam Craig's deep free-kick finding the head of Kerr and his looping header going over stranded goalkeeper Ryan Fulton.
Fulton then could not hold Ross Callachan's shot and Watt was on hand to snap up the rebound.
Dougie Imrie tried to reduce Hamilton's arrears but his swerving shot lacked power.
St Johnstone, tournament winners in 2014, will find out who they will face in the next round when the draw is made on Sunday.
St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright: "I'm happy with the result, but I think the performance could have been better. Maybe when you go 2-0 up, you take your foot off the pedal a little bit.
"It was scrappy at times but it was a comfortable win. We defended well but we wasted a lot of opportunities. The main thing about it today was getting in the hat for the next round."
Hamilton manager Martin Canning: "We were as much in it as St Johnstone but they've done what St Johnstone do really well, they punish our mistakes and they don't make many mistakes themselves.
"To lose the goal so early, it takes a little bit of that momentum you're trying to build out of the team. You're never going to create chance after chance against St Johnstone."