Stuart McKinstry was given his first start since joining the club recently and the former Motherwell man and his team-mates were put under pressure from the hosts in the opening couple of minutes before Lewis Smith had a shot charged down.

During Hamilton’s pressing Benjamin Ferguson picked up a knock and he was withdrawn after treatment with Ross McLean brought on as his replacement.

Queen’s settled with Andrew Lind redeployed in a defensive role and McKinstry forced a corner at the other end however the Accies dealt with the danger.

Hamilton were awarded a penalty on 11 minutes when Joel Mumbongo was fouled by a diving Sam Kane after darting through the visiting defence with one-time Spider Dario Zanatta slotting home from the spot.

McLean did well to evade three challenges and take his team up the park seven minutes later however the home defence stood strong as the substitute looked for a piercing pass.

Midway through the opening half Kane had to watch a low Lewis Latona 18-yard drive very carefully as it flashed just past the base of his right-hand post.

The visitors carved out an opening on 25 minutes after Lucas McCormick and Ricky Waugh combined at a corner with Accies goalkeeper Jamie Smith doing well to beat away Waugh’s driven shot.

The Spiders duo combined at another corner three minutes later with Smith again using his hands to block a drive from Waugh.

On the half hour mark McLean picked out McCormick with a delightful curling low through ball however Smith again thwarted hopes of a leveller as he saved the striker’s effort.

McKinstry got 33 minutes under his belt before being replaced by Jamie Bradley with Hamilton’s Josh O’Brien heading over from a good position four minutes later.

Seven minutes from the break Accies grabbed a second goal through a solo effort from Lewis Smith who cut in from the right wing to the 18-yard line and then sent a left foot shot past Kane.

Queen’s restarted with under-18 captain Darryl Carrick on in place of Lind and they made an encouraging start as Rocco Hickey-Fugaccia drove forward on the right and sent a shot towards Smith’s goal that O’Brien headed just over.

Home goalkeeper Smith failed to cut out a long ball and that gave McCormick a glimpse of goal on 52 minutes at a very tight angle with his shot knocked behind for a corner.

It became 3-0 on 61 minutes when Michael Hewitt was able to hook the ball home from close range after a corner had been deflected into his path.

YQP looked to get back into things and Zach Mauchin burst into the Hamilton box with 20 minutes to go and only a defender’s out-stretched leg prevented his shot rippling the net.

Kane at the other end three minutes later prevented the ball rippling his net as he made a fine double stop to keep out efforts from Zanatta and then Hewitt.

Kane denied Zanatta again with 12 minutes left however there was nothing he could do to stop Hewitt making it 4-0 this time as the Hamilton man sent a header from the loose ball looping into the net.

Hickey-Fugaccia turned on the spot with eight minutes left and his powerful shot looked set to grab a consolation until goalkeeper Smith made a fine diving stop.

Young Queen’s Park – Sam Kane, Joseph Smith, Zach Mauchin, Archie Graham, Benjamin Ferguson (Ross McLean 2), Ricky Waugh (Michael Collie 71), Rocco Hickey-Fugaccia, Andrew Lind (Darryl Carrick 46), Lucas McCormick, Lennon Connolly (Chris Mahon 71), Stuart McKinstry (Jamie Bradley 33).
Unused substitutes – Liam Russell (G/k).

Hamilton Academical – Jamie Smith, Liam Morgan, Chris McGinn, Michael Hewitt, Josh O’Brien, Lewis Latona (Lewis Hodgkiss 83, Gravine Kalala, Marley Redfern (Arran Preston 60), Joel Mumbongo (Ben Black 71), Dario Zanatta (Chris Neeson 83), Lewis Smith.
Unused substitutes – Josh Lane (G/k)