Louis Longridge sends Hamilton into Betfred Cup last 16
Louis Longridge claimed a second-half winner to put Hamilton through to the last 16 of the Betfred Cup following a 2-1 victory against Livingston in a hard-fought tie at the SuperSeal Stadium.
Ten minutes after the break, Ali Crawford set up team-mate Longridge, who fired into the bottom-right corner for the winner after home striker Alex D'Acol netted a first-half opener and Sean Crighton levelled matters.
It was a goal fit to win any match and sees Martin Canning's men top Group G on goal-difference.
Livingston probably edged the first half but the hosts took the lead after 22 minutes when the ball broke to D'Acol just outside the box and he drove an unstoppable shot past Liam Kelly.
Longridge had a chance to double Accies' lead shortly afterwards, but saw his effort well blocked.
At the other end, Nicky Cadden went on a promising run down the left but a perfectly-timed tackle by captain Michael Devlin cleared the danger for the home side.
News filtered through that Group G's St Mirren were 3-0 up against Edinburgh City and it got worse for Hamilton just before the break when a Cadden free-kick was headed by Crighton and looped over Remi Matthews, struck the crossbar and hit the back of the goalkeeper before going over the line.
The last chance of the half went to Hamilton as Georgios Sarris headed a Crawford corner over the bar as the half-time score stood at 1-1.
After 56 minutes, Crawford's free-kick to the left of the box took Livingston unaware and Longridge fired the ball into the bottom-right corner for the winner.
Matthews kept his side in front after 69 minutes when he got down well to punch clear a well-struck free-kick by Cadden.
The away side continued to press for a second and Scott Pittman was sent through after 82 minutes but Matthews blocked well, before substitute Liam Watt blasted the rebound over when he should have done better.
Source: PA
