For the second week in succession, Dundee United took the lead at home only to be pegged back before ultimately losing the match.
The hammer blow defeat combined with Motherwell drawing with Hearts means that the Tangerines are now seven points adrift at the bottom of the Premiership table.
Hamilton started the brighter and dominated the opening exchanges without creating any clear-cut chances.
They were made to pay for failing to take advantage of their superiority when United took the lead in the 29th minute.
John Souttar slipped an incisive pass to danger man Billy Mckay in space and the striker made no mistake, hitting a clinical angled drive beyond Accies keeper Michael McGovern and into the far corner of the net for his sixth goal since joining the club.
That opener seemed to wake the Tangerines from their slumbers and McGovern then had to be on his toes to block a Blair Spittal shot before tipping over a superb long-range effort from Mckay.
Just before half-time, the home side had another great chance to add to their tally when Mckay probably chose the wrong option with Spittal in space crying out for a pass.
Both sides struggled to fashion a chance worthy of the name at the start of the second half before United had a great chance to make it two in the 65th minute when Spittal played in Mckay but McGovern managed to keep out the striker’s shot.
Three minutes later, the Tangerines were made to rue that missed opportunity when Ali Crawford swung a corner in from the Accies left with United’s Gavin Gunning heading past his own keeper Michal Szromnik.
United were rocked and things went from bad to worse when they conceded another in the 79th minute when the ball broke for Ziggy Gordon who calmly shot past Szromnik from 14 yards to take all three points for Accies.
For full report, reaction and comment, see Monday’s Courier.