There was so much high-fiving, back-slapping and hand-shaking going on in the giddy aftermath of this last gasp Hamilton triumph, even the coronavirus itself would have received a warm embrace amid the unbridled revelry.

If Wednesday night’s victory over Rangers was a major moment for the battling Accies, then this victory with 10-men was arguably more significant in the fight for survival. Following Mickel Miller’s dismissal with 12 minutes to go, Marios Ogkmpoe’s 90th minute penalty moved them four points clear of the relegation place and out of the relegation play-off place too. It’s been a good few days.

“I’ve had worse weeks,” said the Hamilton manager Brian Rice with a justified smile at the conclusion of a tussle in which he lost two men to injury in the first half. “It’s been fantastic, with two clean sheets, at Ibrox and then here. That’s a sign of a group of players working as a unit, it was a real team performance.

“They kept digging in and they just go further and further and that’s testament to their spirit and their determination not to lose. It was magnificent.

“I keep telling them not to feel sorry for themselves, whether it’s about fouls, red cards or last-minute goals and that, if they keep working hard and training properly, it will turn. Four points from those two games would have been good but six is a whole lot better.

Both teams started with plenty of graft and gusto. Chris Burke and Rory McKenzie brought out sturdy saves from Luke Southwood while Ogkmpoe was presented with a glorious early opportunity only for his rasping effort to be blocked by Laurentiu Branescu.

It was lively stuff and the half moved along at a fair lick although Hamilton’s efforts were not aided by two injury-enforced alterations as both Jamie Hamilton and Blair Alston hirpled off the pitch.

Like a dodgy tea urn, the second half took a while to come to the boil, although the deteriorating weather didn’t help with a swirling wind causing plenty of mischief. It wasn’t until the 66th minute that affairs were injected with some much-needed vigour.

Ogkmpoe had a shot blocked then saw his follow-up brilliantly saved before McKenzie popped in an effort that was deflected narrowly wide at the other end. Shaun Want then poked a loose ball over the bar with the Kilmarnock keeper floundering at sea while Hamilton custodian Southwood conjured an instinctive save to thwart Broadfoot’s header.

Miller’s clumsy foul on Burke, following an earlier yellow card, saw him depart the stage but there was a dramatic twist in the tale as Ogkmpoe was felled by Findlay and the Greek striker rattled home the penalty off the unlucky palms of the diving Branescu.

Alex Dyer, whose Kilmarnock side dropped to eighth, was left to lament his side’s profligacy and a lack of professionalism when his side faced 10-men. “I just can’t take much from the game,” said Dyer, whose men are now four points from the top six. “We were unprofessional when they went down to ten men. We were gung-ho and just switched off at key moments. The game was there for us to win it and we didn’t.”