Hamilton's James McArthur (left) contests possession with Lee Miller
Hamilton moved off the bottom of the Scottish Premier League table with a home victory over Aberdeen.
Neither side were able to create meaningful opportunities in a quiet first half.
But Accies went in front after Simon Mensing converted a 51st-minute penalty after a foul on James McCarthy.
And Richard Offiong made sure of the win on 78 minutes when he lashing the ball past Jamie Langfield before the striker was sent off late on.
The match was subject to a late pitch inspection and only went ahead after referee Stephen Finnie got permission from the Scottish Premier League to narrow the pitch.
Accies threatened early on when Martin Canning met Mensing's free-kick with header into the arms of goalkeeper Langfield.
At the other end, Jeffrey De Visscher tested Tomas Cerny with a fierce drive that the Hamilton keeper tipped over.
McCarthy set up Offiong for a shot, but Accies' top scorer lifted the ball over the bar from a promising position.
Aberdeen captain Scott Severin sent a free-kick over the bar before Hamilton's David Graham flashed a shot across the visitors' goal.
The Dons pressurised their hosts in the closing stages of the first half, but Mark Kerr was narrowly off target with a low shot.
De Vissher came close to getting an opener in the opening seconds of the second half, but his snap shot was wide of the left-hand post before Hamilton took the lead.
Zander Diamond halted McCarthy's run in the box and Mensing lifted his spot-kick high into the net to score his first goal of the season.
Aberdeen went in search of a leveller and top scorer Lee Miller fired in a free-kick that Cerny stretched to push over the crossbar.
Offiong picked up his first yellow card for a late tackle before Lee Mair and Miller went close from De Visscher's deliveries.
Graham saw his shot parried by Langfield with 15 minutes remaining and Diamond cleared before Offiong could latch on to the rebound.
But Offiong soon got on the score-sheet as he resisted the challenge of Severin and swept home his fifth goal of the campaign.
Offiong almost added to his tally moments later when he held off Diamond and pulled a shot just wide.
The English striker then picked up his second booking for kicking the ball away in the closing stages.
Hamilton manager Billy Reid: "That's three home games, nine points and three clean sheets, which is really important for us.
"I've said before we've changed our philosophy of how we play and we were more solid. It paid dividends today.
"I thought Aberdeen started the second-half better and had a couple of half-chances. Once we got the penalty, Simom Mensing stuck it away really well and then Richard Offiong came alive.
"He was a handful in the last 30 minutes, scored a sensational goal and, if he plays like that, we can win games at this level. I'm obviously disappointed with his sending-off - it's frustrating, that's all I can say about it."
Aberdeen manager Jimmy Calderwood: "I wouldn't say it was a performance - if you want to call it a performance, it was a bad performance.
"But, all credit to Hamilton, they've done well and stopped us from playing. They deserved their victory.
"I don't remember our keeper having a save to make and their keeper had a few, but we were poor. We just never got started and too many players didn't play well.
"We had a massive support here and we've let them down. We had a great chance to gain ground on third place, but we've lost some."
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