St Mirren 1-1 Hamilton: Visitors 'rolled their sleeves up' to earn draw, says Rice

Hamilton Academical "rolled their sleeves up" to fight back at St Mirren and earn a Scottish Premiership draw, says head coach Brian Rice.

Ilkay Durmus' low drive opened the scoring for the hosts after a first half in which the Hamilton woodwork was struck twice and goalkeeper Ryan Fulton was forced into a string of fine stops.

But Hamilton fought back to claim a deserved point as Bruce Anderson's deflected strike levelled the contest.

"We got our just reward," Rice said.

"When we went a goal down we rolled the sleeves up a little bit more. We deserved our equaliser."

The draw leaves Rice's men in 11th, but they have opened up a one-point gap between themselves and bottom club Ross County.

As for St Mirren, despite surrendering a one-goal lead, the point lifts Jim Goodwin's side back into the top six.

• Reaction & as it happened

Rice's men got about their work quickly in their 4-1 win over Motherwell on Saturday, and started in similar fashion in Paisley as Marios Ogkmpoe forced Jak Alnwick into an early save.

The lively Anderson then played Lee Hodson in behind the St Mirren backline, only for his effort to be blocked for a corner.

In an entertaining start, Durmus had the first clear opening for the hosts as he had a left-footed strike across goal saved superbly by Fulton, before Cammy MacPherson's deep free-kick deflected wide.

It was then down to the woodwork to save the visitors. First, Hamilton captain Brian Easton was almost left red faced as he diverted a header against his own bar, then Richard Tait struck the far post with a low left-footed effort.

Tait then forced Fulton into another fine stop and, early in the second period, Anderson spurned a golden opportunity when he diverted a free header over Alnwick's crossbar.

Anderson would be made to pay for the miss, as Durmus broke the deadlock for Jim Goodwin's men with a low effort from the edge of the area. Fulton, who was impressive throughout, got a hand to it but could not keep it out.

Rice's side responded well as Anderson made up for his earlier miss, seeing a deflected strike off Joe Shaughnessy beat a helpless Alnwick.

And it could have been more for the away side as Ogkmpoe's close-range effort was saved well by Alnwick.

Man of the match - Ilkay Durmus

The St Mirren winger (left) was a constant threat throughout and was the liveliest of the home side's frontline

What did we learn?

Injuries have mounted up for St Mirren, and it is impacting on their form. It is now just one win in five and with a fit Kristian Dennis or Eamonn Brophy, the hosts might have been out of sight at half-time.

However, Goodwin will take encouragement from the fact that his side still find themselves sixth. And with three consecutive home games to come, he will be confident of cementing a top-six place.

There is nothing new to learn about Hamilton's fight and determination, but there is a lot more to like about the Lanarkshire side after the addition of Anderson.

The 22-year-old epitomises Rice's men. Not only is he a constant pest to backlines, but he has the quality to go along with it. Clubs will be on alert with the Aberdeen loanee's contract due to expire in the summer.

What they said

St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin: "We asked the players before the game to make sure we were in the top half come the end. The point was enough. Hopefully we can build on that.

"We could've been a goal in front at half-time. I think we were the better team in the first half. Over the whole 90 minutes a draw was probably fair.

Hamilton head coach Brian Rice: "We got a little bit of a break for the goal, but it was thoroughly deserved.

"The biggest game is the next one. We won't change too much going forward."

What's next?

Both sides return to action on Saturday as St Mirren welcome Livingston and Hamilton travel to Easter Road to face Hibernian (both 15:00 GMT).