Hamilton fight back at Kilmarnock

Hamilton came from behind to beat Kilmarnock 3-2 and consign the struggling Rugby Park men to their sixth successive Scottish Premiership defeat.Killie defender Lee Ashcroft headed the home side into the lead in the eighth minute but a poacher's goal by Accies' striker Jason Scotland had the scores level at the break.Hamilton midfielder Darian MacKinnon put the visitors ahead in the 65th minute before substitute Nigel Hasselbaink added a third soon afterwards.Killie substitute Greg Kiltie reduced the deficit in the 77th minute but the Ayrshire men ran out of time and are still looking to secure safety with three games remaining, as they sit only six points ahead of play-off candidates Motherwell whom they play next.In an effort to change fortunes, Kilmarnock manager Gary Locke made two changes to his side, bringing in Rory McKenzie and Alexei Eremenko to replace the injured Tope Obadeyi and Nathan Eccleston, who started on the bench.Accies player/manager Martin Canning returned from suspension but did not include himself in the squad, making one change with Kieran MacDonald replacing Stephen Hendrie who was named among the substitutes.Amid a scrappy start to the game, Killie's goal came from their first corner.Eremenko flighted the ball in from the right where Ashcroft rose high to bullet a header in from around 10 yards for his second goal of the season.It was an encouraging start for the Ayrshire side and Eremenko had the ball in the Accies' net moments later but the offside flag was up.Referee Steven McLean, widely criticised for not awarding Celtic a penalty in their William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final defeat by Inverness at Hampden last month, ignored a spot-kick claim by Hamilton forward Dougie Imrie when he went down in the box under pressure from Kilmarnock defender Ross Barbour.Hamilton slowly gained control and their equaliser was deserved.A tidy piece of play at the edge of the box finished with Killie keeper Craig Samson only able to push Louis Longridge's low drive out to Scotland who finished it off.Three minutes later Josh Magennis should have restored Killie's lead when he raced clean through on goal but the forward fired straight at New Douglas Park keeper Michael McGovern to the groans of the home supporters.At the other end, Samson made a fine save from a powerful Longridge volley before Killie claimed unsuccessfully for a penalty when a Magennis header hit Accies defender Michael Devlin in the box, with what looked like another correct call by McLean.Scotland drove high over the bar just before the break and Hamilton continued to look dangerous when the teams turned around, Samson forced into another decent save at his near post from Imrie's close range effort.The Lanarkshire side forged ahead when Killie skipper Manuel Pascali could only clear Longridge's cross to the edge of the box where MacKinnon stepped on to the ball and drove it low into the corner of the net past the helpless Samson.There was more woe for Kilmarnock when Hasselbaink, on three minutes previously for Scotland, got his toe to Ali Crawford's through ball just before Samson gathered, and the ball trickled into the net.It looked all over for the home side but Kiltie, on for Chris Johnston, fired in from 12 yards to ensure a grand stand finale which saw Pascali head an Eremenko corner just past the far post, with Ashcroft and Hasselbaink both fortunate to escape with only yellows after an untidy clash.