First Team
St Mirren 2-0 Saints
19th October 2019
Saturday 19th October
Saints are still searching for their first league win of the season after going down 2-0 to St Mirren in Paisley this afternoon.
Tommy Wright’s men dominated the first half as blue jerseys pressed forward on numerous occasions with Saints best chance falling to Matty Kennedy on 20 minutes however, he put his effort wide from 12 yards.
Saints would regret those missed chances as The Buddies took the lead on 37 minutes thanks to a spectacular overhead kick from Jon Obika.
St Mirren then secured the 3 points just after the hour mark as Danny Mullen converted a Paul McGinn cross.
Next up for Saints is a home game against Hamilton Accies next Saturday, kick off 3pm.
MATCH REPORT
Domestic football was back this afternoon as Saints made the trip west to take on St Mirren at The Simple Digital Arena. Following the 2-2 draw against Ross County a fortnight ago in Dingwall Tommy Wright made two changes to his starting eleven. David Wotherspoon and Ali McCann dropped out to be replaced by Drey Wright and Jason Holt. Prior to the international break St Mirren lost 2-0 to Motherwell at Fir Park and Jim Goodwin also made two changes to his starting line-up. Out went Ryan Flynn and Ilkay Durmus to be replaced by captain Stephen McGinn and Tony Andreu.
It was a sunny afternoon in Paisley as Saints got the match underway and it was Tommy Wright’s men who would create the first chance of the match within 2 minutes. Great play down the right between Anthony Ralston and Drey Wright saw them advance forward before switching the ball over to the edge of the box. After good holdup play by Jason Holt the ball was laid off to Murray Davidson whose powerful shot from just outside the box went wide of Vaclav Hladký’s right hand post.
Then on 4 minutes Davidson got another sight of goal as Ralston’s cross from the right was flicked back by Stevie May to the midfielder but his powerful shot was blocked by Kirk Broadfoot.
Saints continued to dominate the first half and on 15 minutes created another good chance as Holt picked up a loose ball before passing to Wright. The winger then produced a delightful back-heel to the advancing Ralston whose shot was blocked before the danger was cleared by the home defence.
Saints were looking dangerous going forward and 2 minutes later they created another opportunity to open the scoring as Danny Swanson setup Holt whose curling effort landed on the roof of Hladký’s goal.
On 20 minutes Saints surged forward as Swanson saw his effort blocked before the loose ball fell to Matty Kennedy near the penalty spot however, he dragged his effort wide of the target.
The hosts started to come more into the match as we approached the half an hour mark. On 28 minutes they were claiming for a penalty after Danny Mullen went down in box after clashing with Jason Kerr however, referee Nick Walsh wasn’t interested. Jim Goodwin’s side then forced several corners in quick succession however, the Saints defence comfortably dealt with the danger.
Despite Saints good start to the match they would find themselves a goal down with 8 minutes of the first half remaining. A free kick was delivered deep into the Saints box and Zander Clark initially made a good save with his left foot. However, the loose ball was headed back across goal to Jon Obika who produced a stunning overhead kick to give the Paisley side the lead.
Saints went in search of a quick response as Ralston saw his right-footed effort parried by Hladký on 42 minutes.
St Mirren got the second half underway and barely a minute into the half they created the first chance as Calum Waters crossed to Tony Andreu whose effort was parried by Clark.
The Paisley side almost doubled their advantage on 54 minutes as Mullen raced forward, Clark came out to meet him, but the striker lifted the ball over the advancing keeper. However, luckily for Saints his effort came back off the post before the Saints defence cleared the danger.
Tommy Wright then made a double change as Callum Hendry and Michael O’Halloran were introduced into the action as they replaced Danny Swanson and Drey Wright as he tried to find a way back into the match.
However, St Mirren would double their advantage just after the hour mark as a Broadfoot pass sent Paul McGinn free as he broke a pace down the right wing. The right back then sent a good cross into the box which Mullen got on the end of to slam it high past Clark into the top scorer of the net.
On 68 minutes Hendry and O’Halloran linked up well down the right as the later crossed the ball to May who had a shot at goal however, there was not enough power in the striker’s effort as Hladký comfortably gathered.
The second half was a complete opposite of the first as it was the hosts who were creating the better chances. On 69 minutes substitute, Junior Morias went on a powerful run, skipping past Anthony Ralston and Wallace Duffy, before unleashing an effort at goal which was straight at Clark.
The Buddies continued to cause Saints problems and with 10 minutes remaining the hosts got a great chance to end the game as a contest. Obika slipped the ball to Sam Foley, who had got in behind the Saints defence. However, the midfielder chose to try and square to Andreu when he probably should have had a shot himself and consequently couldn’t pick out Andreu as he put the ball behind his man as Saints cleared the danger.
Kennedy looked to half the deficit late into the 3 minutes of added time however his effort from distance went over Hladký’s crossbar as Saints search for that first win of the season continues.
St Mirren: Hladký, P. McGinn, Waters, S. McGinn, McLoughlin, Magennis, Obika, Andreu (Durmus 84), Foley, Mullen (Morias 66), Broadfoot
Unused Substitutes: Lyness (GK), Mackenzie, Djorkaeff, MacPherson, Breadner
Booked: Morias
Scorers: Obika (37), Mullen (61)
Saints: Clark, Ralston, Duffy, Kerr, Tanser, Davidson, Holt (McCann 76), Swanson (Hendry 59), Wright (O’Halloran 59), May, Kennedy
Unused Substitutes: Parish (GK), Vihmann, Booth, Wotherspoon
Booked: Kerr, Davidson
Referee: Nick Walsh
Attendance: 4,791 (499 Saints fans)
Match Report by Daryl Scott
Picture: Scott Tanser is closed down by Stephen McGinn and Danny Mullen