St Mirren fans may feel aggrieved at dropping two points to ninth-placed Hamilton, but after two contentious penalty decisions the Accies will feel the unluckier side not to have secured the points.
Accies started the more determined side and took the lead after 13 minutes after panic in the Saints' defence allowed Brian Carrigan to lob Craig Hinchcliffe on the edge of the box. Unaccustomed to being in front, the Accies looked like a team who weren't sure what to do next.
Much anger greeted the decision to give St. Mirren a penalty after 36 minutes. Steve Thompson did foul Brian McGinty, but there was some doubt as to whether the offence was inside the box. However, John O'Neill didn't bother himself with these issues and slotted the ball away to equalise for Saints.
Just before half-time the Accies' Brian McPhee was booked for an apparent dive when staying on his feet would have been a better option.
Thirteen minutes after the restart the Accies went ahead again after Carrigan's unconvincing header fell to Scott Tunbridge, who scored with a right-foot volley from 15 yards.
At 2-1 the referee's decision to not award a penalty when David van Zanten clearly fouled Mark McLaughlin would prove to be crucial, and it has to be said that Brian Cassidy's performance was poor.
But the Saints were in no mood to concede any ground and pressed forward relentlessly. When subsitute Allan Russell did score it was the result of scrappy play that saw the ball break to him on the edge of the Hamilton area. His drive appeared to take a deflection, but few neutrals would have argued with the 2-2 result.