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Hamilton Academical relied on an in-form Ali Crawford to deliver their first Scottish Premiership goal and win of the season against a tame St Mirren.

The 23-year-old drove through the midfield to score in the first-half before hitting a second-half effort which deflected in off Marc McAusland.

Buddies starlet Kenny McLean looked influential early on but Saints struggled with a more resolute Accies.

And Mikael Antoine-Curier should have increased the visitors' lead.

It made for painful watching for St Mirren supporters, who despite knowing their side's starting XI was minus the experience of Steven Thompson and Jim Goodwin, expected better against a Hamilton team who had looked vulnerable at the weekend.

Accies manager Alex Neil rang the changes and it resulted in a tighter defensive showing, albeit there was not a lot for them to repel.

A 30-yard shot from St Mirren's McLean, who signed a new two-year contract in the summer, signalled good Buddies' intent in Paisley but it failed to rub off on his team-mates.

Crawford is not new to the top flight, having made 21 appearances for Hamilton when they played Scottish Premier League football in 2010 and 2011.

However, he had not scored at the highest level of Scottish football before and his opening goal was a nice way to start off, striking it from 20-yards after collecting Dougie Imrie's pass and surging through the midfield.

New signing Danny Redmond then played in Imrie, only for Saints defender McAusland to make a crucial block.

Adam Brown, making his Buddies debut, was denied by Martin Canning's clearance in a rare attack from Tommy Craig's St Mirren.

After the break, Redmond's wonderful cross found Antoine-Curier but the big Guadelope international made a hash of his side-foot towards goal - the first of three good opportunites he would miss.

However, the visitors did double their lead.

Ziggy Gordon flew down the wing, and although his cross missed Darian MacKinnon, it fell to man-of-the-moment Crawford, whose shot took a heavy deflection off McAusland on its way to the top corner.