Curran double glee for County
A first-half double from Craig Curran guided Ross County towards their first points of the campaign in a comfortable victory over Hamilton at Global Energy Stadium.
Curran netted from close range early on after a goalmouth scramble and he struck again for Jim McIntyre's side when he was in the right place to tuck away a Marcus Fraser cutback, earning a 2-0 victory.
It was then a case of the hosts holding on to what they had earned in the second half, as Hamilton, who had squandered an early penalty, failed to find a cutting edge in front of goal.
Hamilton had started the match brightly, winning a corner in the first minute, but Ali Crawford's flag kick was plucked out of the air by Scott Fox.
The visitors continued to threaten early on and were awarded their penalty in the fourth minute when goalkeeper Fox bundled Christian Nade to the ground inside the box.
Crawford took the spot-kick but Fox sprung to his right and pushed the ball away to safety.
County survived the early pressure and forced a corner in the 10th minute after Curran jinked in from the left and his shot was deflected behind by Lucas Tagliapietra.
Raffaele De Vita swung the ball into the box and after a couple of headed attempts from Liam Boyce and Jackson Irvine, Curran blasted home from close range.
The goal spurred County on and they started to dominate possession.
Hamilton looked dangerous on the break but it was the home side who doubled their lead in the 41st minute. A neat one-two between Irvine and Fraser resulted in a cutback which left Curran with a simple tap-in.
Accies were forced to make a change before half-time when Chris Turner was replaced by Darian MacKinnon after he suffered a nasty knock.
County created the first real chance of the second half in the 49th minute when Michael Gardyne raced up the wing. His cross into the box was met by the onrushing Irvine who lashed the ball wide of Hamilton goalkeeper Michael McGovern's right-hand post.
Just as in the early stages of the first half, Hamilton were able to enjoy a lot of possession without doing much with it.
In the 58th minute County's Boyce and De Vita linked well in a breakaway move but Boyce's final effort was blocked in front of goal.
At the other end Crawford had a dig from long distance but Fox gathered the ball easily.
County were forced to change their goalkeeper in the 69th minute when Fox picked up an injury and was replaced by on-loan Stoke player Daniel Bachmann.
However, Accies failed to seriously test the new goalkeeper, whose handling looked sound as he went for a couple of cross balls.
The home side were content to let Hamilton have the ball in the final stages and County's goal stayed untroubled as they picked up their first points of the campaign.
Source: PA
