Hamilton Accies boss John Rankin lavished praise on Steven Bradley after his display 'lit up' their win over Queen's Park and ended a three-game losing streak.

Bradley bagged a deadly double in a terrific first half from the hosts, slotting home inside the box and curling home a stunning 25-yard free-kick either side of a Zak Rudden penalty for Spiders.

It marked the club's 150th anniversary in style and Rankin hailed the exciting show from Bradley and his side.

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Rankin said: "Steven is an unbelievable talent and it is about marrying that with his work ethic and desire to go and play.

"He was absolutely unbelievable in training last week so he was always going to start today.

"I thought he set the game alight. His dribbling, chopping inside, outside, was great and his free-kick is brilliant.

"I am delighted for him personally because he had a wee boy in the summer. It has been a difficult and turbulent six months for him because it changes your life as a footballer - it is not all about you anymore. He is adapting to it and today he is the match winner.

"We started on the front foot and I thought we were exciting to watch, which I have not been able to say a lot of times this season.

"After three straight league defeats, the enthusiasm and energy the team played with came from the backing of the crowd in the first half.

"I thought they were really good today and it certainly helped. Now we need to build some momentum going into the Christmas period."

Accies took the lead after just three minutes when good work down the left led to Kyle MacDonald feeding Bradley in the box and he made no mistake, as he slotted a first-time strike into the bottom corner beyond Calum Ferrie.

Spiders pulled themselves level from the penalty spot in 16 minutes. Stephen Hendrie was deemed to have nudged Jack Turner off the ball in the box and Rudden stepped up to coolly send Charlie Albinson the wrong way.

On the half hour mark it took a fantastic save from Ferrie to deny Accies a second, turning Oli Shaw's curling, top corner-bound strike round the post.

In the 37th minute, though, Ferrie could do nothing to stop Bradley bagging his second of the day. Accies won a free-kick 25 yards out when Bradley was felled by Louis Longride and he dusted himself down to dispatch a terrific curling strike into the top corner.

It was all one-way traffic and four minutes later a brilliant point-blank stop from Ferrie denied Shaw adding a third.

Resolute defending from the Accies rearguard kept Spiders at arm's length until the 88th minute when Jack Thomson hit the post with a header and Rudden then smacked the crossbar with an outrageous strike from distance, but Accies saw the game out.

Rankin added: "It's a silly decision from Stephen Hendrie to have a tug at their player and give them a penalty, but we merited getting back in front before half-time.

"We set the tone really early in the second half but then we looked like a team that hadn't won in a while, in terms of sitting back and letting them come back into it and pepper the box, but the players dealt with it very well.

"I don't think Charlie has had a save to make, but they have hit the bar and the post late on.

"We know how much of a threat they are and how good their players are, so we knew we had to be really resolute for the full 90 minutes" "If you'd said to me we'd get three points before the game, we'd have biten your hand off.

"We went three league games in a row without any points, which is disappointing, but the fact the players continue to graft and demand off of one another, it shows their committment to us."