By Lewis Laird
St Mirren took home all three points in what was an entertaining fixture in Paisley, defeating St Johnstone 3-2.
The away side took the lead from the spot through Stevie May before St Mirren got themselves back on level terms around seven minutes before the break. That wasn’t the end of the half’s action though, as the Perthshire Saints regained the lead a minute before half-time and were down to 10 men shortly after.
The Buddies failed to take advantage of the extra man in the early moments of the second half. However, as the game wore into the late stages, Jim Goodwin’s men scored a late double, with both Lee Erwin and Jon Obika grabbing the goals that meant St Mirren extended their run of unbeaten games to 11 games.
It was St Johnstone who had the chance to open the scoring from the penalty spot. A long ball over the top looked to release David Wotherspoon in on goal. It looked to be cleared by the Buddies defence, but the striker was pulled down just inside the box by former St Johnstone man Joe Shaughnessy.
May stepped up to take the penalty and struck it well. St Mirren goalkeeper Jak Alnwick went the right way but couldn’t do enough to keep the strike out as the away side took the lead.
St Mirren got back on level terms in the game around seven minutes before half time. A left-footed cross from the right by Marcus Fraser was caught in the wind and troubled the away defence who failed to clear. The ball then fell to Ethan Erhahon in the box, who drove his volley into the ground and bounced into the top corner.
St Johnstone grabbed the lead again just on the stroke of half-time. After some nice build-up from Callum Davidson’s side, a ball in from the right made its way over to the left where left-back Scott Tanser was waiting. Instead of going wide, the full-back cut inside and brilliantly bent his shot into the bottom corner, giving Alnwick no chance.
The game had an even more eventful end to the half as shortly after, St Johnstone took the lead again though they were reduced to 10 men. A dangerous, high tackle from Jason Kerr on Ilkay Durmus gave the referee no choice other than to send the Saints captain off just before half-time.
The Buddies looked to pile on the pressure straight from the off in the second half, having a real urgency about them but struggled to create many clear cut chances in the half to test Zander Clark in goal.
Jim Goodwin’s side managed to get the all-important equaliser with 10 minutes to play. A lovely pass from Jake Doyle-Hayes spread the play out wide to the right. A lobbed cross from Kyle McAllister made its way to the back post where Erwin nodded home past Clark in goal.
Just minutes later, St Mirren went and grabbed a winner in the game. A well-delivered free-kick into the centre of the box found Obika who was standing alone from close range and thundered a header into the back of the net, meaning the Buddies would be taking home the three points. Here are three things we learned on another great day for the Paisley side.
Perth dejection
Throughout the half, it looked as though Davidson and his side were going to be able to do enough to hold St Mirren off. A defensive collapse in the final 10 minutes though meant that St Mirren were the ones to be taking the three points home.
This will be extremely frustrating for Davidson and his coaching staff and they will have to look for a solution, having failed to keep a clean sheet since the start of November.
Battling Buddies
Coming into the second half, St Mirren looked hungry to get themselves back on level terms again. Although they did not create too much until the final 10 minutes, they were resilient and positive throughout the half.
Twice this week, they have shown that grit, going behind and bouncing back to get the victory and that is something that will delight their manager.
Climbing the table
With this win, St Mirren move to 18 points, sitting just three behind Motherwell in 5th place. They have shown some really good form in recent weeks and will now look to build on that to try and stretch away from what is a tight bottom half of the table.
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