The Almondvale side went down 3-1 but today unveiled a new injection of cash and a three-year plan to take the club into the top flight again and move back into the black.
The defeat saw Billy Reid's side to within touching distance of the First
Division title and Accies star James McCarthy insisted their young squad can handle the pressure at the top. The 17-year-old is part of a youthful team who have taken the league by storm this season and they are now just one win away from title glory.
Goals from Richard Offiong, James McArthur and Simon Mensing put the champagne on ice at Almondvale, Livingston's only reply coming from a Dave MacKay penalty in the dying minutes of the game.
But second-placed Dundee's win over Stirling Albion means that Accies will have to wait until at least next week against Clyde to claim the title.
McCarthy admits that it would be an unbelievable feeling to bag a championship medal at his age.
"It was great to get the points because Almondvale is a really hard place to come to. We know that it all comes down to next week now against Clyde, but hopefully we can do it.
"Dundee have not made it easy for us, they have stuck with us all the way but hopefully we can go on and win the league.
"We are a pretty young squad but we were fine on Saturday, which was a big game for us. Next week is another one and I am sure that there might be one or two nerves but hopefully we can handle it.
"We have been there all season and had to handle the pressure. To win the league at my age would be brilliant, just unbelievable. Now and again you get a bit nervous and that's probably a good thing. We have coped with everything that has been thrown at us this season so far and hopefully we can continue to do that next week."
Accies edged in front after 25 minutes when Alex Neil broke through the middle and picked out Offiong, who was racing in on the right. There wasn't much power in the striker's effort but it clipped Craig James and the deflection was enough to wrong-foot Lions goalkeeper Colin Stewart, who let the ball trickle past him and into the net. Accies' play in the first half more than justified their advantage but Livvy almost bagged a leveller just a couple of minutes later when Leigh Griffiths powered down the left and rifled in an effort that came thundering down off the underside of the crossbar and was eventually cleared.
That effort apart, the action was mainly at the other end of the park and Accies made it pay before the break when they doubled their advantage. Offiong was involved again, this time dummying a cross from the left from Mensing to leave McArthur with the simplest of tap-ins. That gave Reid's side a comfortable cushion and they made sure of the points just two minutes after the restart Mensing capitalised on hesitation in the Lions defence to drill the ball beyond Stewart on the angle.
Hamilton manager Billy Reid said: "Livingston have caused us problems this season on different occasions and they did that again in the last 20 minutes, but I thought that we were outstanding for the rest of the game.
"We scored good goals, although we maybe got a bit nervous towards the end.
"We know that if we win the game next week that we are champions but as everyone knows there is a bit of history between ourselves and Clyde in recent seasons. But, it is in our own hands, we are down to one game and if we win it then we win the league. I have got a belief in these players and I think that it is important that they believe in themselves.
"They have grown in stature week in, week out. We have got some fantastic young players in our side and a bit of experience in there as well, but we will take nothing for granted until we are over the line.
"If we play to our potential then we know that we can win the game and the league but I am sure that Clyde will have something to say about that."
It looked like Accies would keep another clean sheet, only for the Lions to pull one back from the spot in the dying minutes of the game when McCarthy slid in from behind on Steven Craig in the box. Up stepped Dave MacKay who slotted home from 12 yards, but it was too little, too late, for the Almondvale side.
And manager Mark Proctor admitted: "We lost poor goals. If you analyse the ones we lost, they were blatant errors, Dorrans for the first one, McCaffrey the second a blatant error and another one from Craig James for the third.
"If you concede goals like that and make big errors in bad areas, it is going to cost you dearly.
"In between the errors I thought that we did quite nicely.
"I thought that our creativity in the second half was good and if we hadn't conceded that third goal so early after the restart then maybe we could have taken a point from the game."
The full article contains 948 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
