PANIC IN PAISLEY
Saints lack spark but Spartans pay penalty ST MIRREN SPARTANS 2 2
THE need for Alan Stubbs to recruit a new striker could scarcely be more obvious if he painted a job advert on a billboard outside St Mirren’s Ralston training base.
His Saints survived an almighty scare against Spartans, coming from 2-0 behind to draw 2-2 before beating the Lowland League champions on penalties.
Stubbs handed home debuts to seven new players, but few enhanced their reputations against part-time opponents.
The new boss remains keen on a loan deal for Celtic winger Mikey Johnston, while Anthony Stokes is an option as he looks to bolster a front line who fluffed their lines badly last night.
At least they were more reliable from the penalty spot, winning 5-3 in the shoot-out for a bonus point. It was also their second shoot-out victory in two games after last Friday’s triumph at Kilmarnock.
Irked by his team’s display, Stubbs said: ‘It was a frustrating night. The way we approached the game in the first half was not what I wanted. It just wasn’t acceptable.
‘Yeah, it does highlight the need to add more quality in the final third.’
With Spartans manager Dougie Samuel at home recovering from a heart attack, and assistant Darren Cameron away on holiday, it was left to coach Derek Riddel to take charge.
And he could not have wished for a better start, albeit his side’s sixth-minute opener had a farcical element to it.
Playing a one-two with team-mate Jack Smith, Spartans winger Jason Stevens looked like he might just have sprung the offside trap as he latched on to the return pass.
The linesman’s flag went up immediately, however, and that looked to be that. To a man, every member of the St Mirren defence simply stopped playing.
But David Burns’ decision didn’t tally with referee Alan Newlands. He overruled his assistant, but nobody seemed to notice until after Stevens had run clear and stuck the ball into the far corner of the St Mirren net.
Had Spartans keeper Blair Carswell taken to the field with a deckchair and a good book, his team would have fared no worse during the opening 45 minutes.
If the crowd were in a state of mild disbelief at what they were seeing, they were stunned into total silence when the visitors doubled their lead on 55 minutes.
Saints keeper Danny Rogers came charging out of his area to mop up a through ball, but only cleared it to Spartans striker Scott Maxwell. He showed wonderful composure to dink it back over Rogers and into the unguarded net.
Stubbs summoned Stephen McGinn from the bench and, within two minutes, the skipper hauled his team back into the game by rifling into the far corner.
Spartans’ resistance was broken with the concession of a penalty on 75 minutes with Danny Mullen converting into the top corner.
On to penalties it went. It was Blair Atkinson who missed for the visitors with Cammy Smith scoring the crucial, final kick for the home side.
Coach Riddel said: ‘Full credit to the boys — they did themselves, the club and the league proud. What happened to Dougie has brought everyone together.’