Zander Diamond salvaged a draw for strugglers Aberdeen against a hard-working Hamilton side.
Flavio Paixao headed home his second goal of the season in the 53rd minute from a Brian Easton corner, bulleting in from six yards out.
Diamond levelled with a fine strike in the 76th minute, finishing off a well-worked free-kick.
David Elebert could have claimed the points for Accies in the dying minutes, but his header inched wide.
The draw extends Aberdeen’s winless streak to nine matches, but extended Hamilton’s lead over bottom side Falkirk to three points at the foot of the Scottish Premier League table.
Hamilton had the majority of possession in the opening minutes, Easton and Marco Paixao testing Jamie Langfield in the Aberdeen goal with some inventive play.
In the 10th minute, Aberdeen’s Michael Paton should have done better with a shot that he blasted over the bar from 12 yards out.
Flavio Paixao could have opened the scoring in the 17th minute when Easton sent over a searching cross from the left, but the Portuguese forward was a yard off the pace and the opportunity was lost.
Moments later, David van Zanten volleyed in a right-footed shot from distance that dragged wide of the Dons goal.
Elebert glanced in a header from close range shortly after the half-hour mark that was just past Langfield’s left-hand post before Aberdeen’s Ricky Foster kept out an Alex Neil effort from the right-hand side of the penalty area.
Hamilton continued to dominate the half and the Paixao twins linked up well to threaten but lacked the killer finish.
With five minutes of the first-half left, Charlie Mulgrew stepped up to place one of his trademark free-kicks and Hamilton keeper Tomas Cerny was at full stretch to parry the ball out for a corner.
Van Zanten almost gave Accies a half-time lead with the last chance of the first 45 minutes when he sent a glancing header inches past the post.
A quick succession of Aberdeen corners immediately after the restart failed to significantly test the Accies defence as the Dons came out from the interval looking more determined than their lacklustre first-half performance.
Steven MacLean’s powerful effort from just outside the box swerved past Cerny’s right-hand post.
The deadlock was broken when Flavio Paixao headed Easton’s corner beyond Langfield.
Moments later, Canning managed to deflect over a Gary McDonald shot from 10 yards out as the Dons tried to quickly claw back an equaliser.
Diamond levelled for the Dons after Mulgrew’s free-kick was knocked into the defender’s path by MacLean.
Flavio Paixao was fortunate to escape a booking after throwing himself to the ground and claiming for a penalty with five minutes remaining.
He almost redeemed himself two minutes later with a powerful shot that cleared the crossbar.
Hamilton’s James McArthur flighted in a searching ball as injury time beckoned, but Elebert’s header failed to reach the target and the sides shared the points.
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