Hamilton brought Hearts’ 100% record to an end in a thrilling encounter at New Douglas Park.

In a match that had everything, including stunning goals and a red card, Gramoz Kurtaj opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time for Accies - just reward for the chances they had created up to that point.

Billy King dragged Hearts level though soon after the re-start, and despite being far from at their best, an emphatic volley from Callum Paterson with 19 minutes left put them ahead.

Paterson turned from hero to villain minutes later, as a wild lunge on Darian MacKinnon brought him a straight red card.

Hamilton made their numerical advantage pay, as a stunning strike from Ali Crawford gave them parity again.

Incredibly, Accies claimed the points with 2 minutes left on the clock as Jesus Garcia Tena swept home from a Crawford corner at the second attempt.

The opening exchanges were scrappy with the only real effort of note coming from Ali Crawford.

The midfielder picked up the ball and drove forward before unleashing a 25-yard rocket that Neil Alexander had to tip over.

The Hearts fans weren’t exactly singing the praises of referee Willie Collum after quarter of an hour as Juanma went down in the area under the challenge of Ziggy Gordon.

There did appear to be a slight clip of the Spaniard’s heel, but Collum adjudged it to be neither a penalty nor a dive and awarded a goal kick, much to the vast travelling support’s fury.

Carlton Morris was then claiming a penalty at the other end after appearing to have his legs taken away by Igor Rossi, but again the claims were waved away.

Jamie Walker had Hearts’ first effort on target, bringing a save from Michael McGovern with a well-hit volley from distance after a burst from midfield.

They then had a better opening as Walker floated a free-kick into the area for Paterson to attack.

He nodded the ball towards the back post where Osman Sow just couldn’t rise high enough to get enough purchase on his header to direct it towards goal.

A wonderful move from Hamilton should have brought the opener, with Carlton Morris knocking down a high ball forward from Gordon into the path of Crawford.

The little playmaker beat a man before slipping a lovely pass through to Kurtaj, but with just Alexander to beat he seemed to kick the ground before falling over, and the ball trundled wide of the target.

Quite how they didn’t score moments later is anyone’s guess. A breakaway from a Hearts free-kick saw Crawford and Kurtaj advance on one Hearts defender, before an exchange of passes saw Crawford forced wide in the box.

He got his head up and picked out Grant Gillespie arriving on the penalty spot, but the midfielder took a fresh-air swipe and missed the ball completely.

It rolled perfectly into the path of Darian MacKinnon, but with the whole stadium waiting for the net to bulge, he blazed his side-foot effort over the bar.

Hamilton were well on top now though, and they got the goal their pressure deserved just a minute later.

A long ball from Michael McGovern cleared the static Hearts defence and Kurtaj beat Alexander to it to poke the ball home on 45 minutes.

Hearts needed to step it up after the break, and they duly did to strike level after 53 minutes.

A long ball from Igor Rossi found Sow wide on the left, and the big Swede displayed a deft touch to pick out King in the area.

The midfielder took his time and showed nice footwork to create an opening before finishing into the roof of the net with the outside of his right-foot.

Hearts hit the front on 71 minutes when Juanma’s awareness allowed him to pick out a cross for the arriving Paterson at the back post.

The full-back met the ball flush with a volley that gave McGovern no chance.

On 75 minutes Paterson was the villain, as a wild lunge on MacKinnon sparked a melee with referee Collum having his work cut out to bring order back to proceedings.

The end result was a red card for Paterson and a glut of cautions for both sides.

Accies didn’t take long to make their man advantage pay, and a stunning finish from Crawford on 84 minutes brought them level.

He picked the ball up before unleashing a left-foot effort from 20 yards that Alexander could only help on its’ way into the top corner.

They wrapped up the points in dramatic fashion on 88 minutes, a corner from Crawford causing chaos in the Hearts box before the ball landed at the feet of Tena.

The big defender’s initial effort was blocked by Morgaro Gomis, but he rifled home the rebound to send the home support wild and bring Hearts’ winning record to an abrupt end.

Hamilton (4-2-3-1): Michael McGovern; Ziggy Gordon, Jesus Garcia Tena, Lucas Tagliapietra, Antons Kurakins; Grant Gillespie, Darian MacKinnon; Dougie Imrie (Christian Nade, 77’), Ali Crawford, Gramoz Kurtaj (Greg Docherty (94’); Carlton Morris (Louis Longridge, 88’).

Booked: Antons Kurakins (27’), Carlton Morris (32’), Jesus Garcia Tena (75’), Darian MacKinnon (75’), Grant Gillespie (90’), Christian Nade (93’), Greg Docherty (95’).

Scorers: Gramoz Kurtaj (45’), Ali Crawford (84’), Jesus Garcia Tena (88’).

Hearts: (4-2-3-1): Neil Alexander; Callum Paterson, Alim Ozturk, Igor Rossi, Juwon Oshaniwa; Morgaro Gomis, Prince Buaben (Gavin Reilly, 87’); Osman Sow (Jordan McGhee, 77’), Jamie Walker, Billy King (Sam Nicholson, 87’); Juanma Delgado.

Booked: Prince Buaben (75’)

Sent Off: Callum Paterson (75’)

Scorers: Billy King (53’), Callum Paterson (71’).