Pic: ©SNS Group
Flavio Paixao's injury-time winner saw Hamilton leapfrog St Mirren into 10th place in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League following their 1-0 victory.
The teams' second game in as many weeks looked set to end goalless until the Portuguese striker headed home a priceless winner for the home side to give them only their second league victory of 2010.
Accies striker Mikael Antoine-Curier had a goal chalked off after just 21 seconds as the hosts dominated the first half, but the second was more even and St Mirren twice came close through Graham Carey before the dramatic late ending.
The hosts' blistering start continued after the disallowed strike when Mark McLaughlin saw his header from Brian Easton's corner touched onto the left-hand post just one minute later. A Dougie Imrie cross from the right then skimmed Paul Gallacher's crossbar with Antoine-Curier lurking and ready to turn it in at the far post.
Antoine-Curier hit the post from a corner played into a packed box, and it looked as though the hosts would pay for their misses as St Mirren immediately mounted a pacy counter-attack.
Andy Dorman sent in a shot which was cleared only as far as Craig Dargo on the right, but his effort looped towards the crossbar and was caught by Hamilton goalkeeper Tomas Cerny.
St Mirren won a free-kick on 52 minutes for Mark McLaughlin's grapple with Billy Mehmet as the ball was lofted into the box. Carey's precise strike from the set-piece looked highly promising but hit the underside of the crossbar and rebounded to safety.
Paul Gallacher beat away a close-range Flavio Paixao effort at the right-hand post, while the St Mirren stopper also made a double block at the post from recently-introduced Marco Paixao as the game appeared set to peter out.
However, the action was not over - Easton sent in a cross midway through the three minutes of injury time which was flicked on by James Wesolowski to Flavio Paixao, and he scored with an assured header which went in beyond Gallacher's right hand.
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