For the first time this season, Danny Lennon was able to name an unchanged side. While this meant we still had three strikers in Gareth Wardlaw, Michael Higdon and Paul McGowan, it also meant we still had Lee Mair and Craig Samson. The latter was only in as Paul Gallacher was still injured and made his home debut, as did midfielder Patrick Cregg. In my view, Hamilton's side looked far stronger than ours with guys like Gary McDonald, Dougie Imrie and Martin Canning in it - although thankfully there was no Alex Neil, who often does well against us.
Worryingly it was Hamilton who had the better early chances, with Flavio Paixao's fierce drive being palmed away by Samson before Mark McLaughlin headed over from a corner. Canning then proved just how fine a player he is by producing a thumping header from a McGowan corner, the ball going inches wide as the Accies stopper just missed out on scoring an own goal. McGowan went close himself after that, testing keeper Tomas Cerny with a powerful shot from a tight angle.
Those of us questioning the decision to persist with Mair were proven right when he had all the time in the world to boot the ball clear - and missed. Fellow defender-in-crime John Potter then picked up a booking for pulling the various garments of Nigel Hasselbaink - although quite why the striker felt the need to roll around on the ground screaming like a girl is anyone's guess. Proof that we still can't take set-pieces arrived after Wardlaw was fouled and Travner tamely passed the ball back to Cerny. McDonald then shot wide for Hamilton, although I'd like to think Samson would have had it covered if it had been on target.
Further evidence for the case against Lee Mair came after 26 minutes when he decided he was Kirk Broadfoot and ran forward with the ball. He got somewhere near the half way line before, unsurprisingly, giving the ball away. That allowed Paixao to move forward before drilling an effort that Samson spilled and David van Zanten booted away. Hopefully Samson's one mistake for the day.
Higdon then decided to get his mistake out of the way after that and it was a howler. What happened is the matter of some debate, so I'll try to describe it as best I can. Wardlaw curled an effort off the bar and the rebound fell to van Zanten (although some people claim it was McGowan). Vanzy's shot was blocked but the ball returned to him. Whatever he was trying to do - pass or shoot - he succeeded in playing the ball to Higdon, two yards out from an open goal. However, he didn't get enough on his shot, allowing Canning to come and boot it to safety. Many Saints fans cheered a goal, but the officials were having none of it and a golden opportunity to score had gone.
Guess what happened next, Actually, don't because it's all too predictable. Hamilton attacked, Imrie cut the ball back, someone - possibly Paixao - left it and Jon Routledge sent in a low shot that evaded Samson's reach and nestled in the bottom corner. 1-0 Hamilton and typical Saints once again. Hamilton had been the better side in the first half so there could be few complaints, although it was a double whammy after Higdon's miss. And, considering we hadn't scored against Hamilton in six and a half games, the omens weren't good for the second half.
And they nearly got much worse within a minute of the second half resuming when an Imrie free-kick found the unmarked McLaughlin and his powerful header was well kept out by Samson. But obviously that wasn't warning enough and Hasselbaink was allowed to run down the right before making his way into the box. Mair then put in a challenge that was at best quarter-hearted and unsurprisingly the striker rode it comfortably before passing to Imrie. Despite being in the process of failing down, he managed to get enough on it with some part of his body to force it over the line - Higdon take note. Same old story - and almost identical to the defeat to Inverness Caley Thistle at home three weeks ago.
For once, we didn't buckle and instead tried to get ourselves back in the game. A poor pass from Mair was missed by an Accies defender and let Travner in behind and he brilliantly cut the ball across the face of goal for Wardlaw to score at the back-post. Except he didn't. He shot wide. It was a shocking miss, although not as bad as Higdon's. Imrie then went inches away from putting the game out of sight - if it wasn't already - by firing just over from the edge of the box.
With just over half an hour left Cregg was replaced by Kenny McLean, the young midfielder making his debut. When play resumed, Travner swung in a free-kick that McGregor headed on, but McGowan was unable to force it home at the back post. The ball then fell kindly for McLean who tried to hook the ball back into the mix for Higdon, but only succeeded in scaring Cerny who suddenly had to react to stop the ball flying into the top corner. His save came at the expense of a corner and when McGowan put it into the box, McGowan knocked it on for Higdon who somehow managed to get a shot away that slipped past numerous legs and ended up in the bottom corner. So he can score from there, but not two yards! Accies responded by replacing Goodwin and McDonald with Andrew Graham and David Elebert in a bid to shut up shop - and we soon had their usual time wasting tactics every time the ball went out.
It didn't work. Travner and Graham both earned themselves bookings and Graham's meant he couldn't touch Travner next time he charged forward. His cross was good and Higdon's shot from around the penalty spot was perfect and the ball flew past Cerny for the equaliser. He may have missed from two yards earlier, but he certainly had enough behind that shot!
Unsurprisingly Hugh Murray was next to get booked, the only surprise being this week it took him until 15 minutes from time to get his customary yellow card. Then it was McGowan's turn to foul Imrie and unsurprisingly it got him booked. Pleasantly neither team was sitting back, Mensing curling a shot over before McLean shot straight at Cerny after good work by Higdon. The young midfielder was then almost assaulted by Elebert, who escaped with just a booking for what was a fairly vicious challenge. No winner arrived for either side, so we had to make do with a point.
The comeback was good, the misses were poor and the defending at times was shocking. Yes, it was good to salvage a point, but if we want to stay up we need to start winning games like this one. Sadly, with the current defence, that doesn't look like happening any time soon.