Hamilton Accies remain rock-bottom of the Premiership table after suffering another heavy defeat at the hands of Aberdeen at Pittodrie.
The Dons were 4-1 up by the interval as Ryan Edmondson helped himself to his first two senior goals, adding to a wonder-strike from Lewis Ferguson and a Tommie Hoban header.
Hamilton came roaring back into the game, pulling a goal back through David Moyo, with Ross Callachan having a shot cleared off the line.
That gave Hamilton hope and Callachan netted from the spot to half the deficit, but Aberdeen never looked likely to relinquish their lead as they moved third in the table, ahead of a showdown with champions Celtic this weekend.
Here are some talking points from a tough night under the lights.
Moyo is off the mark
Let's start with the positives for Hamilton, because there weren't too many of them, but David Moyo has got off the mark for the first time this season, and fans will hope he can go on a run.
The striker did well last term but only netted twice, and will hope to do much better than that now he has the first under his belt.
With Marios Ogkmpoe also starting to weigh in with goals, Hamilton have grounds for hope.
Hamilton games are never dull
Accies have shipped 12 goals in their last three league games, losing 4-2 to Aberdeen, 5-3 to St Johnstone and 3-2 at Hibs.
The flip-side of that is Accies have scored seven goals in their last three league games without taking a single point.
It's not good form for Hamilton and while there is a positive there that they are at least scoring goals, they need to shore up the defence and stop conceding with the regularity that they are.
It's also fair to say that goals have rained in over short periods of time as well; for example, Dons scored their first goal in 13 minutes, their fourth in 31 tonight.
Captain Brian Easton was on the bench tonight for the first time since undergoing surgery during the close season, and fans will hope he comes back sooner rather than later... but he will need to hit the ground running.
Aberdeen are a cut above
Aberdeen were in the mood tonight, with a first-half blitz sealing the points early on for them, and with some quality goals.
Yeah, Hamilton's defending left a lot to be desired at times, but Tommie Hoban scored a good header, Lewis Ferguson's 25-yarder was unstoppable, and Ryan Edmondson took his goals well, particularly the second one where he ran through the whole defence to score.
Hamilton tried to get back at their hosts after that and to their credit scored twice, but you could sense that Aberdeen's quality was such that they weren't really worried abuot a comeback.
Saturday's clash in Paisley is pivotal
Hamilton's visit to St Mirren on Saturday is HUGE now, and if it doesn't quite come under the category of 'must win' it's definitely in the 'can't lose' bracket.
At this stage we don't know if Saints' Covid situation is recovered enough for the game to go ahead, but if it does, it's Hamilton's biggest game of the season without any doubt.
Having already lost to their rivals this season, they can't really afford another slip-up.
Follow Lanarkshire Live Sport on Twitter via @LanLiveSport, like us on Facebook or find us on Instagram for the latest sports news, pictures and video.
