Hamilton 2-0 St Johnstone

Apr 6 2008 Scott Mcdermott At New Douglas Park

JUBILANT Accies boss Billy Reid admitted his young troops have one hand on the First Division title after a stroll against sorry Saints.

Reid now knows a win at Livingston next week would wrap up the championship if rivals Dundee slip up at Stirling.

Goals from Tony Stevenson - who scored directly from a corner - and David Elebert clinched victory for the Lanarkshire side and kept them four points clear of Alex Rae's men with three to play.

Reid couldn't hide his delight afterwards and singled out Scotland Under-21 star James McArthur for his man of the match display.

Incredibly Accies now have 69 points at the top of the league, three more than last year's champions Gretna who won plaudits for coasting it.

Reid said: "I thought we were brilliant today. We looked solid and worked really hard all over the pitch. We've got one hand on the title now and it's all down to us.

"We've only lost three goals at home all season and have now got more points than Gretna got last year which shows our consistency. No-one could have imagined that at the start of the campaign.

"I hate to single anyone out but McArthur was exceptional today - what a player he's going to be."

McArthur may have been the star against the Perth side but it was Stevenson's deadly delivery that St Johnstone couldn't handle. The young right-back's set-pieces were almost David Beckham-like at times - although he admitted his fifth-minute strike was a fluke.

Stevenson said: "The gaffer has told me to hit the dead balls and I try to put them into an area for people to attack.

"The first one was a bit of fluke but I'll take it.

"This was a big win for us today because St Johnstone have caused us problems this season. The title is getting closer and the pressure is now massive but we've got to take it game by game."

Despite a lively opening by Derek McInnes' visitors Accies got their noses in front with Stevenson's freakish goal.

Saints keeper Kevin Cuthbert had been drafted in for Alan Main but he looked nervy and when he failed to read Goran Stanic's passback trouble was looming.

From the resulting corner Stevenson whipped the ball in at pace and Cuthbert was nowhere as it flew past him into the net.

The goal deflated St Johnstone and Stevenson, Brian Easton, David Graham and Simon Mensing all had chances to stretch Accies' lead but squandered them before the break.

McInnes' side weren't at the races and it was no surprise when Elebert made it 2-0 in 57 minutes. Another fantastic delivery from Stevenson found the Irish defender whose bullet header looked destined for the top corner.

Stanic tried to clear but ref Dougie McDonald and his assistant judged it to have crossed the line.

Saints pressed but couldn't break the home side down - Liam Craig came closest with a 20-yarder that flew wide.

Gaffer McInnes said: "We fell way below the standards I'm willing to accept and we were nowhere near Hamilton today, they deserved the win.

"With a massive Scottish Cup semi-final coming up, it was really disappointing we didn't compete with them."

MoM: McArthur (Hamilton)