BILLY REID was relieved his Hamilton side finally got a break as they saw off relegation-threatened Ayr United.

Accies were behind early on as Mark Roberts gave the visitors a 17th-minute lead, but the hosts fought back to draw level through Jon McShane before Eddie Malone saw red after picking up two yellow cards just after the break.

Minutes later, Danny Redmond looked to have clinched all three points for Hamilton as he fired past Kevin Cuthbert but Ayr refused to give up, with Michael McGowan hauling them level.

It was to prove in vain with on loan St Mirren star McShane grabbing his second goal of the afternoon in the dying seconds to secure a vital three points for Accies and leave Ayr fighting for their Irn-Bru First Division survival.

Victory for Reid's side leaves them level on points with third-placed Falkirk with just two games remaining.

He said: "It has been a long time coming for us to get a wee break. Some have said it was offside but, to be honest, I am not concerned.

"We have had so many things go against us in recent weeks that we have deserved that, we plugged away right to the final whistle. It was a strange game for us. At times I thought we moved the ball really well, we were as sharp as anything.

"We controlled the first 20 minutes and then found ourselves a goal behind. For Ayr to have so little of the ball, they were a threat up front all the time.

"They are dogged, they fight to the death and even at 11 against 10, they battled away."