Hamilton 0 Kelty Hearts 2: Stunning strikes send Accies spinning out of Scottish Cup at first hurdle

Hamilton Accies fell at the first hurdle in the Scottish Cup after League One rivals Kelty Hearts sent them spinning out with two stunning strikes.

John Rankin's men had high hopes of progressing to Sunday's fourth round draw against a side they beat 2-0 on league business earlier in the season, but Kelty got the better of them in the second half as Reece Lyon's thumping volley and a Lewis Moore screamer sent the Fifers through.

Accies also ended the game with 10 men after Jackson Longridge saw red in stoppage time for a second bookable offence.

Rankin will rue some missed opportunities before the goals, in particular a big chance for Kevin O'Hara which he hit into the ground, and the defeat sees them suffer back-to-back cup exits, following last Friday's 4-1 defeat to Raith Rovers which saw them relinquish their SPFL Trust Trophy crown.

The hosts made two changes from last week’s SPFL Trust Trophy exit, as Longridge and and 18-year-old Cian Newbury came in for Lee Kilday and Stephen Hendrie. In the Kelty squad, ex-Accies stars Kyle Gourlay, Botti Biabi and Ross Cunningham were in the starting line-up and ex-youth player Kai Sylla was on the bench.

Accies should have opened the scoring inside eight minutes when Kyle MacDonald's inch-perfect cross picked out Kevin O'Hara at the back post. The striker looked destined to score, but he hit his effort into the ground and Kelty keeper Gourlay was able to tip the ball over the crossbar.

Moments later, an acrobatic effort inside the box from Reghan Tumilty had Goulay scrambling down at his near post to turn it away from danger.

It took Kelty until the 27th minute to carve out their first real opportunity and, when they did, Ryan Fulton had to be alert to keep out a Reece Lyon