Another win in the bag as Saints soar
WITH FOOTBALL IN COLD STORAGE WE TAKE A LOOK AT OLD ST
St Mirren............2
QoS .................... 0
St Mirren confirmed their dominance at the top of the Championship, moving 14 points clear, after cruising to victory over Queen of the South on Saturday.
With Dundee United’s match away to Inverness Caley Thistle postponed, Saints were yet again handed the opportunity to widen the gap at the league summit.
And they never disappointed as they controlled proceedings from start to finish on what had looked like a tricky fixture heading in to the game.
Liam Smith’s thunderbolt of an
opener was added to by Harry Davis’ penalty before the break.
And although the hosts struggled for clear-cut opportunities in the second half, the result was never in any sort of doubt.
Jack Ross handed a first start to January signing Ryan Flynn, with the winger replacing Ian McShane, as Kyle Magennis moved into the middle of the park.
Magennis and Flynn linked up to great effect almost immediately after a clever turn and pass from the latter into Magennis resulted in a drive from distance, although Queens keeper Alan Martin was able to get down well to parry clear.
But with the team sitting clear at the top of the table, the confidence among the ranks was no more evident than the side’s opener after just four minutes.
His namesake, Cammy may be the more regular on the scoresheet, but full- back Liam Smith showcased a striker’s touch to burst the net from all of 25 yards.
Magennis was again central to St Mirren’s play in the build-up, with the 19-year-old spotting Smith drifting into space near the edge of the area.
And the on- loan Hearts man didn’t need a second invitation as he unleashed an unstoppable effort beyond Martin and into the top righthand corner of the net.
The likes of Lewis Morgan, Flynn and Magennis were all revelling in the time and space bestowed to them by the Queens defence, and barring a couple of efforts from the mercurial Stephen Dobbie on the Queens frontline, the Buddies appeared comfortable pinging the ball around.
That was, however, until the 20th minute when the Buddies for love nor money just couldn’t get the ball out of their own box.
First, a strike from Ross Fergusson required Craig Samson’s fingertips to tip the ball over the bar.
And no sooner had he got back up, Samson was at it again to palm a Callum Fordyce header clear.
But the drama wasn’t over yet as a goalmouth scramble from the next corner eventually saw Samson get down to block a low drive.
Fordyce managed to force home the rebound at the far post – but only for the linesman to flag him offside.
Saints quickly recovered and never once appeared rattled by their short backs to the wall display.
A corner between Morgan and Smith saw the full- back lay it back to the winger but Martin was at full-stretch to somehow divert behind for another corner kick.
Another piece of quick-thinking, this time from Flynn, saw him thread a low ball to Adam Eckersley at the edge of the box, but the Englishman’s fierce strike was blocked by the out-stretched arm of John Rankin in the middle of the St Mirren box, leaving ref Steven Kirkland no option but to point to the spot.
With penalties usually reserved for the benched Ian McShane, up lined the unlikely figure of centre back Harry Davis to do the honours.
But there was never any reason to doubt the big centre back as he coolly dispatched the ball right down the middle for his first goal of the season after 32 minutes.
Jack Baird would come close to adding a third on 40 minutes but he somehow just couldn’t get over the bar as he headed another Morgan header over the bar.
The last chance of the half was probably the best, but again, Saints would fire agonisingly wide of the goal.
A low ball across the face of the box from Liam Smith beat the keeper but Gavin Reilly’s touch wasn’t enough as he prodded wide from all of two yards.
But, as first halfs go, you will struggle to find a more acquitted performance from the Saints from start to finish this season.
Barring a brief two-minute spell, the Buddies dominated from start to finish with style and flair.
Queens boss Gary Naysmith sprang to life at the break, introducing winger
Dom Thomas for full-back Scott Mercer, who had been struggling to handle Flynn throughout the first half.
But the switch failed to ignite a fire under Queens as they toiled out of the traps, with the only action of note another substitution as the visitors’ keeper Martin was forced off with an injury to be replaced by Jack Leighfield.
Buoyed by his earlier exploits, Liam Smith as the first to test Leighfield with another drive from distance but the stopper was on hand to collect at the second attempt as the game passed the hour.
Morgan was next to have a go as the Buddies simply held on to their lead with minimal fuss, though this time the winger dragged wide of the near post.
And, although there was no more scoring, Saints strolled it from start to finish as they head into a welcome break from action next Saturday.