Jim Goodwin’s 40th birthday celebrations had a dampener put on them by Nicky Devlin yesterday afternoon as the Livingston star scored a late equaliser after a man-of-the-match performance at the SMISA Stadium to snatch a 1-1 draw with St Mirren.
St Mirren made one change from their last outing – a 0-0 draw with St Johnstone before the international break – with Curtis Main dropping to the bench and Eamonn Brophy coming into the starting XI.
The visitors made two changes, Jack McMillan and Cristian Montaño coming in the the side for the suspended Ayo Obileye and Sean Kelly, with Kelly dropping out of the 18 altogether for David Martindale’s side.
It was Livi who had the game’s first real chance to break the deadlock, Montaño heading wide from close range after an excellent ball into the area by Devlin allowed the Colombian to find a bit of space but he couldn’t get his effort on target.
It took until 68 minutes for the deadlock to be broken, Jamie McGrath’s lovely long-range effort sailed over Max Stryjek’s head and nestled in the back of the net.
The Irishman again showed his class with the fantastic strike, showing great composure to scoop the ball over the Livingston keeper’s head and getting it back down.
With just two minutes left, Devlin pulled Livi level when he fired through a posse of bodies to beat Alnwick and grab a share of the spoils.
However the St Mirren were left infuriated when the referee failed to point to the spot just moments later when Livingston substitute Harry Panayiotou appeared to handle the ball inside the box.
The result sees St Mirren climb above Hibs into sixth place in the Premiership while Livingston increase their lead over eleventh-placed Dundee to three points.
St Mirren: Alnwick, Fraser, Shaughnessy, McCarthy, Tait, Flynn, Power, Tanser, McGrath, Ronan, Brophy.
Substitutes: Lyness, Dunne, Erhahon, Kiltie, McAllister, Dennis, Main.
Livingston: Stryjek, Devlin, Fitzwater, Parkes, McMillan, Holt, Omeonga, Montaño , Bailey, Shinnie, Anderson.
Substitutes: Maley, Longridge, Penrice, Sibbald, Forrest, Kabia, Panayiotou.
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