St Mirren came away with a point as they played out a 0-0 draw with Dundee United at the newly renamed SMISA Stadium.
Both sides would start the game in the same fashion with misplaced passes a key feature of the opening 15 minutes. St Mirren would have the best chance in the early stages with a free kick from 25 yards, however, Cammy MacPherson’s attempt failed to clear the United wall.
Dundee United would have their first shot on target shortly after with midfielder Ian Harkes lashing a first-time effort towards Jak Alnwick in the Buddies goal. Jim Goodwin’s St Mirren side have not played a competitive match since the 10th of October, but they did not take long to find their feet in the first half.
The Arabs were crying out for some creativity and they had plenty of it on the bench. Marc McNulty, Paul McMullan and Louis Appere were all options for manager Micky Mellon and they would have provided the spark that United needed.
It took until the 35th minute for the next meaningful attempt at goal. A deep St Mirren cross was met by Richard Tait in the six-yard box. The defender was unlucky to see his glancing header drift wide of Benjamin Siegrist’s left post.
Dundee United would have been the happier of the two sides as they headed in for the break. St Mirren looked nothing like a side that have not won a Premiership game since August with Goodwin’s men looking revitalised.
The fog rolled into Paisley just in time for the start of the second half. With 25 minutes left to play, MacPherson would have an opportunity to strike a set-piece from just outside the 18-yard box and were it not for the United wall his shot may have ended up in the back of the net.
With time ticking down St Mirren had a strong shout for penalty as Junior Morias looked to be scythed down inside the penalty area. Whether the thick fog prevented the officials from seeing tackle properly or not, Goodwin was absolutely furious with the lack of a penalty award.
That would be the last action of the game as both teams could not find the winner within the additional four minutes of added time. Here are three things we learned.
St Mirren’s lay-off does them good
The Buddies have had a rollercoaster season so far with the main factor being the recurrence of COVID-19 infections within the first team squad. Goodwin’s side lined up against United after nearly a month away from competitive football, but they came out of the traps looking like a new side.
Goodwin has his players drilled and looking composed in defence and looking smoother in transition. It may not have been the best of starts to the league campaign for the Saints but if his players can maintain the same level of performance that they had against Dundee United then they should be clear of the bottom come the end of the season.
Full-backs key to Buddies success
Tait and new signing, Mason, were dominant for Saints against United. 23-year-old Mason has the pace and tricky feet necessary to skip down the line and his final ball also caused problems for the defence.
On the opposite flank it was Tait who had the freedom to run down the right-hand side all night. The former Motherwell defender made it look, easy even popping up in the box to head the ball narrowly wide.
United need to find consistency
It’s no secret that this Dundee United side cruised to Championship success last season. Robbie Neilson had the Tayside outfit scoring for fun with Shankland providing the bulk of the goals.
Mellon has a tall order in the form of repeating the success of his predecessor and while United certainly won’t be relegated this season, he would have certainly hoped to be pushing those teams that traditionally finish at the top end of the table.