Highlights - Hamilton 0-1 Aberdeen

An injury-time goal from Scott Vernon made it back-to-back wins for Aberdeen under new manager Craig Brown.

Dons keeper Jamie Langfield produced a splendid save to keep out a fizzing 30-yard free-kick from Dougie Imrie in the first half.

But there was little else in the way of goalmouth action until Vernon's dramatic late strike.

The forward finished from close range to leave Hamilton grounded at the foot of the Scottish Premier League.

The Accies have now scored just one goal in their last six outings and lie five points adrift of Hibernian, who play later today.

The home side had more of the ball but lacked any menace in the final third of the park.

Aberdeen, who move up to 10th in the table, were well organised but lacked the vim and vigour that got the better of Hibernian on Boxing Day.

Following a spate of snow-related postponements, Hamilton had not played since a 0-0 draw with St Mirren on 27 November. However, the home side showed no signs of rustiness in a bright opening period.

Jon Routledge sliced well wide after the Dons defence failed to deal with Gavin Skelton's excellent cross and the lively Derek Lyle saw his near-post effort saved by Langfield.

The visitors responded with a Nikola Vujadinovic header that Accies keeper Tomas Cerny gathered easily.

Josh Magennis kept his place in the Aberdeen side, having impressed as a substitute against Hibs, but he failed to trouble Cerny after Simon Mensing had missed a long ball, the keeper making a comfortable stop from the striker's shot.

Dons skipper Paul Hartley zipped a 30-yard free-kick narrowly wide before Accies midfielder Dougie Imrie went closer from similar range.

Langfield had to leap to his left to claw away the powerful strike that had looked destined for the top corner of the net.

As the first half drew to a close, Damian Casalinuovo turned well after gathering an Imrie cross but the Argentine forward could not keep his shot down.

Flavio Paixao replaced Casalinuovo on 52 minutes and soon sent in a testing low cross following a sharp one-two with Grant Gillespie, but the Aberdeen defence managed to scramble the ball clear.

Vernon sprung to life on the hour when he diverted a great whipped delivery from Chris Maguire just wide from close range.

Sone Aluko, a late replacement for the Dons, danced into the penalty box but elected to take on another opponent when a shot looked on and a promising opportunity was lost.

The game appeared to be petering out when Vernon struck to stun the home support.

Ryan Jack made a nuisance of himself in the penalty area and his persistence paid off when he was able to set up his team-mate for a simple tap-in after a great low cross from Aluko.

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