Aberdeen suffered another night to forget in Hamilton as they missed out on the chance to open up a 12-point lead over rivals Rangers.
Despite Aberdeen being utterly dominant in the first half, Hamilton made it to the break in front after finding the back of the net with their only shot on goal.
Accies captain Mikey Devlin provided the decisive blow in the ninth minute and, as the match progressed and Aberdeen passed up chance after chance, it quickly become a night of frustration for the visitors.
The Dons had won only one of their four matches at New Douglas Park during Derek McInnes’s time in charge prior to this encounter but could find no way past a well-organised Hamiton, who finished with 10 men after Darian MacKinnon’s late red card.
The defeat means Rangers can reduce the gap with Aberdeen to six points with a win against St Johnstone this evening, while Accies moved up to ninth spot, leaving Caley Thistle at the foot of the table.
The Dons have found New Douglas Park a tricky venue in recent times and suffered a 1-0 defeat on their last trip to face the Accies in October when a controversial Alex D’Acol penalty proved enough to give the hosts victory.
But they went into this form in excellent form, having won five matches on the spin since losing 1-0 against leaders Celtic at the start of February.
Jonny Hayes missed out for Derek McInnes’ side after picking up a hamstring injury during Saturday’s win against Ross County with on-loan Celtic midfielder Ryan Christie stepping in.
It was a historic night for Dons defender Andrew Considine, who entered the top-10 of Aberdeen’s all-time appearances list by moving level with Eoin Jess in his 380th game for the club
Hamilton knew they would move off the bottom of the table if they avoided defeat but their playmaker Ali Crawford was only fit enough for a place on the bench due to an ankle problem.
Even without their talisman Hayes, the Dons started the match in confident style, unsurprising given their recent results, but found themselves behind after only nine minutes.
Accies captain Mikey Devlin took advantage of some static Aberdeen defending, outmuscling Ash Taylor before volleying home Danny Redmond’s in-swinging free kick.
It was a poor goal to concede and uncharacteristic of an Aberdeen team that had kept six clean sheets in their previous nine matches.
Adam Rooney fired wide from distance at the other end as Aberdeen tried to muster an immediate response.
Aberdeen’s top scorer went even closer in the 20th minute when his hooked volley from a Niall McGinn corner almost finished in the top corner of the net.
The Irishman must have felt the footballing gods were conspiring against him moments later when his glancing header from another accurate McGinn cross bounced back off the post.
The Dons may have been behind but they were dominating play and went close again to restoring parity when McGinn raced on to a Graeme Shinnie flick and flashed a shot across goal.
Rooney was inches away from converting a tantalising Christie cross as the Accies, somehow, clung on to the lead.
Taylor almost atoned for his part in Hamilton’s opener five minutes before the break when his thunderous effort from the edge of the penalty area flew narrowly over the crossbar.
The Dons made a change at the break with Mark Reynolds replaced at half-time for the second successive away match and replaced by Peter Pawlett.
They immediately continued where they left off with Kenny McLean drawing a fine save from Gary Woods in the opening exchanges of the second period.
Hamilton were happy to sit in and play on the counter-attack with Rakish Bingham testing Joe Lewis on one rare foray forward.
Accies goalscorer Devlin was in the right place to nod a close-range Logan header over the crossbar as Aberdeen threw more and more players forward in search of a leveller.
Aberdeen made their second change with 18 minutes to go with Miles Storey brought on for Christie, who had struggled to make an impact on the match.
The substitute thought he had got the elusive equaliser with 10 minutes to go when he tapped home a deflected Pawlett drive from close range only to be flagged offside.
Hamilton ended the match with 10 men when MacKinnon was sent off for a second bookable offence for a trip on Shinnie on the edge of the area, only a minute after picking up his first yellow, but Martin Canning’s side held on for all three points.