Goodwin takes positives as Mellon’s men fail to slice Defence

THEY say good things come to those who wait. However that sentiment appears to not apply to St Mirren at the moment, whose wait for a match ended but win continued despite dominating at home to Dundee United last night.

Their start to the season has been tumultuous and disjointed. Unaided by seemingly continuis match cancellations in response to positive Covid- 19 tests, they hadn’t kicked a ball competitively in nearly a month before this match.

Positive results haven’t been forthcoming either, the Buddies had just two victories to show for pre- match and had gone 82 days without a win.

Saints boss Jim Goodwin was full of praise for his side after the match, after so long without a game, he said:

“There’s so many positives – a first clean sheet in a long, long time which considering most of the lads haven’t been able to train or do anything for two to three weeks I couldn’t be any more pleased with the outcome.

“Unfortunately in the last eight, nine, 10 weeks we have had one thing after another which has been well documented. But I think you see tonight the squad of players I have to choose from and the strength in depth on the bench that will hopefully make a huge difference for us going forward.” The hosts had the look of a side who had missed their football fix and after a scrappy start they settled into control of affairs. They were faced however with an away side content on sitting deep who boasted the talent of Benjamin Siegrist in and a resolute back five.

The majority of half chances were created by either wing back, as crosses flooded the visitor’s area. Debutant Mason delivered well into the box early in the half but the eventual shot taken by Richard Tait was blocked valiantly by Jamie Robson six yards from goal. It was another Mason cross from the left that was glanced goal wards by Kristian Dennis but the effort went narrowly wide of the target.

The second half was greeted by an incoming layer of fog that momentarily may have threatened the second half, and what bad luck that would have been, but despite poor visibility play continued. The home side goals threatened again through Mason who was in a rush to make an impression, his effort from the edge of the area whistled over the bar when he found some rarely afforded space.

As the fog settled in Paisley visibility became more and more clouded. The chances for the home side continued, albeit normally from distance, but there was no reward for their obvious dominance. Marcus Fraser found himself in space 20 yards from goal soon after MacPherson had fired wide, but he equally couldn’t hit the target and saw a low drive miss the target.

As the final whistle beckoned the visitors did start to grow into the game, helped by the

introduction of Paul McMullan who offered a threat from the right. But despite a flurry of corners there was to be no late steal from United. The hosts probably should have had a penalty when McMullan lunged ni on Junior Morias but much to Goodwin’s bemusement nothing was given.

Mellon was happy with a point post- match, despite his side’s inability to create much in way of chances, he said: “We’ll take a point away from home at a tough place. Defensively we did well around our 18 yard- box but we want to be better in the forward areas than we showed this evening.

“But we battled away and earned our point so we’re taking something away from it.”