VENGEANCE, they say, is for the Lord.

But, as anybody who was blessed enough to be at New Douglas Park on Saturday would testify, it seems to work fairly effectively for Ali Crawford too.

The midfielder spent six years on the books at Hearts as a kid until he was deemed to be “too small” by those in charge of their youth set-up and released.

You would have imagined that, after the success of Billy Bremner, Roy Keane, Lionel Messi and myriad others, no football club would dare to even contemplate rejecting a player for that reason in this day and age.

That, though, is exactly what the Tynecastle club did with Crawford when he was hoping, like every football-obsessed schoolboy with dreams of making it as a professional, to earn a full-time contract at the age of 15.

He was immediately picked up by Hamilton and has done rather well since; he has played for their first team for the last six seasons and was named in the 2013/14 PFA Scotland Championship Team of the Year after helping them win promotion to the top flight.

Still, the pain of being offloaded by Hearts has never left Crawford. He used it as extra motivation in his first game against his former club at the weekend. The desire to exact retribution seemed to do the trick. He inspired his side to a 3-2 victory.

The furore over the red carding of Hearts right back Callum Paterson and the hullabaloo over the performance of referee Willie Collum – who booked no fewer than nine players, including one who wasn’t even on the park, during the course of the 90 minutes – overshadowed his personal display somewhat.

It was a shame because the 24-year-old was a joy to watch. He scored Hamilton’s second goal – a long-range effort with his weaker left foot which hurtled past Neil Alexander and into the top corner – and set up Jesus Garcia Tena for the winner.

During the first half, the slight playmaker’s goal attempts, constant movement and pinpoint passing had caused visitors who must have been anticipating a far easier afternoon no end of distress. If Gramoz Kurtaj, who eventually opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time, had been more clinical up front the home team could have forged three clear.

“It means so much more to me because Hearts let me go when I was younger,” said Crawford. “It was good to get one over them. It was the first time I’ve played against them professionally since they let me go. That gave me an added boost, which helped. It was a great three points.

“I was at Hearts from when I was nine until I was 15-years-old and then I’ve been here ever since. They let me go when I was too small - hence my celebration when I got down on my knees and showed them how much it meant to me. That was what my gesture was about.

“It was hard to take at the time. I had to go and rebuild my career. I came here and they gave me a great opportunity and it’s been great ever since. So unlucky to them, eh?”

Robbie Neilson felt that his Hearts side, who drew level through Billy King and then forged in front thanks to a Paterson volley in the second half, were unfortunate to have Collum in charge of their seventh league outing of the 2015/16 campaign.

The capital club were leading 2-1 when Paterson was sent off and their opponents duly ensured their six game winning run came to an end. The reverse meant they dropped behind both Celtic and Aberdeen in the league table.

So was it an ordering off? It is virtually impossible to say with any certainty in modern football what constitutes a red card. But it was certainly no worse than the challenge by Hamilton defender Antons Kurakins on Hearts midfielder Jamie Walker during the first 45 minutes which only resulted in a yellow card for the perpetrator.

“When you see his (Paterson) ankle you would say it’s a red card for the other guy,” said Alim Ozturk of Hearts. “We knew it was possible (that Hearts would go down to 10 men) so we prepared for that happening. But we are looking forward to the next game now.”

The defeat will defuse the hype which had been growing around the Championship winners Hearts. Yes, the red card was contentious. But their defending in the first half was not that of title contenders. They could conceivably have been trailing 3-0 at half-time.

The result was also further evidence that Hamilton, who so many tipped to be relegated this term, have far more about them than a lot of critics appreciated. The win kept them in fourth place in the Premiership table. If Martin Canning’s side continue to perform so assuredly they will remain there.