The St Mirren players celebrate Craig Dargo's strike
St Mirren extended their winning run of matches to four with a hard-fought win over bottom-placed Hamilton.
Saints went close in the first half through Dennis Wyness, Andy Dorman and a rasping Jim Hamilton volley.
Following a goalless opening 45 minutes, Craig Dargo got the breakthrough in the 79th minute with a low drive from close range.
Hamilton struggled to create anything of note, and rarely tested Saints keeper Mark Howard.
St Mirren manager Gus MacPherson named an unchanged side for the fourth successive match after forward Jim Hamilton shook off a knock picked up in the win at Kilmarnock.
Hamilton made two changes to the side which beat Motherwell 2-0 in last week's Lanarkshire derby against Motherwell, with Martin Canning taking the place of Mark McLaughlin and captain Alex Neil dropping out to be replaced by Tony Stevenson.
St Mirren could have gone in front inside two minutes but Wyness saw his effort blocked by Tomas Cerny and then Andy Dorman headed over the bar.
Simon Mensing came similarly close for Hamilton moments later, shooting into the side netting after being set up by Richard Offiong.
The hosts increased the pressure as the half-hour mark approached, first when Franco Miranda struck narrowly wide from another Brady corner, then when Brady himself had a shot cleared after Stephen McGinn's cross was headed on by Hamilton.
However, the visitors could have taken a surprise lead when a Stevenson free-kick on the right was headed on to the far post and reached Chris Swailes who only just failed to divert it into the net.
Offiong tried his luck for Hamilton four minutes after the restart with a powerful drive from outside the box which flew narrowly wide of the right post.
Dorman was unfortunate not to put St Mirren ahead on the hour when he cut inside from the left and unleashed a powerful drive, which Cerny tipped it away.
Substitute Dargo finally put the Paisley side in front just 10 minutes after he was brought on.
Dorman broke free and threaded through a pass to Jack Ross who crossed in for Dargo to coolly fire home from close range.
Hugh Murray could have doubled St Mirren's lead late on, but his powerful drive from outside the box flew over the top.
St Mirren manager Gus MacPherson: "When you play against Hamilton, the full-backs are so important. You've got to get the width in there.
"Hamilton are very well organised, they flood the middle of the park. We were urging our full-backs to get forward, and I think a lot of people have criticised us and looked at our home record and thought we were set up defensively.
"It's been like that for most of the season, they give us the width - and Jack Ross, at every opportunity was getting forward, so it was fitting for him that he was there to put it in the back of the net."
Hamilton manager Billy Reid: "It was a bit scrappy and I'm disappointed how the game went for us. It was a midfield battle for both sides.
"The conditions weren't ideal, let's be honest about it. I thought we were second-best in the second-half.
"It was a decent goal, but I would like to see the replay, as I don't know if Jack Ross was offside or not, but I have no complaints for the first time in a long time."
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