St Mirren B were beaten by Hamilton Academical in the KDM Evolution Trophy with a spirited second-half performance not enough to rescue anything after falling 3-0 behind in the first-half.
Kevin O'Hara's 17th minute goal was followed up by a quickfire Oli Shaw double to put the hosts into a commanding lead in the opening half. Jack Lavery pulled one back as the Young Saints gave a good account of themselves second-half.
O'Hara had the first opportunity for Hamilton Accies when he intercepted goalkeeper Charlie Innes' pass on 11 minutes and tried to force home at the near post, but shot into the side net. The forward would give the hosts the lead after a neat interchange with Shaw saw him fire home from 15 yards.
Evan Mooney forced a good save from Accies goalkeeper Michael Marks 10 minutes after the opener with a powerful strike from the edge of the area as Saints searched for an equaliser.
Accies would take complete control of the game with just under 10 minutes of the first-half remaining when Shaw netted twice in the space of a minute. The forward first tucked home Alexander Hutton's cross from close-range on 34 minutes. He added his second and Accies' third less than 60 seconds later when he got in behind the Saints defence to race on to a ball over the top. Saints goalkeeper Innes raced off his line with Shaw lifting the ball over him around 25 yards from goal before running on to the ball and knocking into the empty net.
The Buddies were much stronger in the second 45 and managed to pull a goal back on 63 minutes. Jack Lavery's powerful strike managed to find its way over the line despite a strong hand from Marks as he attempted to keep the ball out of the net.
Shaw had the ball in the net for the hosts on 69 minutes when he turned home a low cross from O'Hara, but the linesman's flag denied the striker his hat-trick
Luke Douglas twice forced saves from Marks in the final stages as Saints looked to reduce the deficit further, but the Accies stopper saved well to ensure his side saw the match out to pick up three points.
Full-Time: Hamilton 3-1 St Mirren B
St Mirren B: Innes, Hutchison, Falconer, Hunter, Mcevoy, Clark (Farquhar 63), Hodgkiss, Taylor (c) (Thompson 71), Douglas, Mooney (Rehman 71), Lavery
Subs Not Used: McEwan, Morrow, Barr, Stoddart
Hamilton: Mark, Hutton (Eadie 62), O'Hara (C.Smith 83), Shaw, Rathie (Shiels 62), MacDonald (c), Loughrey, Gallacher, Syme, MacKinnon (Aitken 56), Herd (McKinstry 83)
Subs Not Used: J. Smith, Carson
Referee: Josh Hay
Assistant Referee: David Dunne
Assistant Referee: Callum Haswell
