BRIAN RICE was left ruing an early decision from referee Craig Napier as Hamilton fell to a 2-0 defeat in the capital despite a largely dogged and determined display from the Lanarkshire outfit.

An early dismissal for centre-half Jamie Hamilton left Accies on the back foot almost immediately, and it was little surprise when Martin Boyle handed Hibernian a first-half lead moments later before Josh Doig sealed the win in the second.

It was a comfortable enough win for Hibs but Rice – whose side remain in eleventh in the league standings – reckons the game could have been altogether different, but for the first-half red card.

“No comment,” came the terse reply when the Hamilton boss was asked what he made of the decision.

“The referee’s made a decision with the help of his assistant. I think you can tell by the tone of my voice how I feel about it.

“It changed the course of the game. One hundred percent.

“I’ve seen it again and I’ve got my own thoughts on it but I’m not going to share them, sorry, because I will get into trouble.”

Jack Ross, Rice’s counterpart at Hibs, conceded that while the challenge was ‘reckless’, he agreed with the implication from the Hamilton manager that the ref’s response of a straight red was a little disproportionate.

“I was fairly close to it at the time,” he said. “I did think Jamie was a wee bit high and a wee bit reckless with it but I was still a bit surprised when he was sent off.

“I didn’t think there was any malice in it. It probably didn’t look great, particularly because Martin Boyle is so quick. When it happens in real-time it can look quite bad.”

It was Hamilton who looked the more dangerous side from the outset: a Scott McMann drive was palmed around the far post by Ofir Marciano; a snap-shot from Marios Ogkmpoe rebounded off the woodwork; and only a smart stop from the Israeli keeper kept Ross Callachan at bay as Accies turned the screw.

They would be made to pay for their profligacy. With 10 minutes on the clock, a full-blooded but probably fair challenge from Hamilton on Boyle prompted a furious reaction from the Hibs players and coaching staff who felt it was dangerous play; the ref concurred, and the 18-year-old was given his marching orders.

Things went from bad to worse for Accies within 60 seconds. The resulting free-kick was repelled but in the next phase of play, Boyle curled a low shot from the left past the despairing arms of Ryan Fulton and into the visitors’ net. Advantage Hibs.

Reeling from the sending off, Accies made it their mission to simply hang on in there for the next 10 minutes but the home players could smell blood. Doig tested Fulton with a stinging drive from 25 yards, a last-ditch block from Brian Easton prevented Jamie Murphy from doubling Hibs’ lead and Christian Doidge really should have done so when he won a header six yards out, but the big Welshman mis-timed his leap and skewed his header wide. Despite the relentless barrage, Hamilton clung on.

It was already one-way traffic by this point and the effect became even more pronounced when Ogkmpoe limped off the park with an injury to be replaced by David Moyo. The numerical disadvantage forced Accies into shelling it long, more out of hope than expectation, and the substitute simply lacked the physical presence of the Greek striker.

Then, a glimmer of hope for Hamilton. Doidge took a tumble in the area at a Hibs corner after being clipped but Fulton produced an excellent stop to deny Boyle from 12 yards. Could this be the catalyst that could spark a reversal in fortunes?

Apparently not. A McMann free-kick that would have made for a fine conversion if the venue was Murrayfield was the closest Rice’s men came to grabbing an equaliser before the half-time whistle rang out in Leith. Accies were bruised, sure, but they were not broken.

To their credit, they came out for the second half with a new lease of life in search of a goal. Bruce Anderson probably could have done a little better after fashioning some space in the Hibs box but Marciano got down quickly to deny him, while Chris Cadden stung the palms of Fulton at the other end with a rasping shot that was batted away by the Accies No. 1.

Then, with 20 minutes to go, the killer blow: Boyle sped into the box, slalomed along the edge of the pitch before chipping a delicate cross towards the unmarked Doig at the back post. He could hardly miss and indeed, he didn’t.

The match petered out from that point, with both teams seemingly happy to leave it at that.