IREANDFURY
St Mirren forced to bite their lips over bitter pill of Covid ‘defeats’ as they hit rock bottom
ST MIRREN don’t need any l e s s ons on t he strangeness of 2020. In what other year could a team end up at the foot of the Premiership after a pair of 3-0 defeats in the midst of an eight-match unbeaten run?
At the root of the conundrum is, of course, the punishment handed down by an SPFL tribunal for breaches of Covid regulations. Awarding walkover wins to Hamilton and Motherwell for games postponed due to outbreaks within the Paisley squad dealt a major blow to ambitions of stabilising their top-flight status.
On Saturday, Jim Goodwin almost drew blood from biting his lip so hard. There was a lot the Saints boss wanted to say, but couldn’t. Not while his board consider all options with their legal advisors.
Ahead of any potential appeal moves, events on the pitch provided a mix of comfort and frustration. Comfort from 90 per cent of the performance. Frustration in their absence of a finishing touch.
St Mirren should have completed back-to-back wins over Aberdeen after their Betfred Cup success seven days previously. Their punchy c o unter- a t t a c k i ng was o nl y rewarded with parity at the interval as chances were wasted. When Lewis Ferguson received a second booking after 51 minutes, it looked set to be Saints’ day. A woeful stoppage-time miss from Lee Erwin ensured it wasn’t.
Learning they had dropped to the foot of the table following Hamilton’s win over Kilmarnock only emphasised an opportunity lost, yet captain Joe Shaughnessy was adamant there will be no moping. Not about their league position. And not about the SPFL punishment.
The Irish centre-back believes the grievance over being condemned to losses by a tribunal can actually be harnessed in a more positive way.
‘It’s disappointing, especially when we’re trying to do everything right,’ said Shaughnessy of the SPFL verdict. ‘Two 3-0 defeats as a punishment is never good. But you just use it as motivation.
‘It does make our spirit stronger. A little sense of injustice and we’ll use it to our advantage, try to pull together even more and kick on to getting more results to push us up the league.’
Having not lost on the pitch since a 2-1 reverse at Pittodrie on October 2, Saints don’t look like relegation fodder. But they need to discover a clinical edge to ensure all their good work isn’t wasted. Without it, danger is unlikely to disappear.
Jamie McGrath was excellent during the opening period and converted the 44th-minute penalty equaliser after Tommie Hoban was harshly punished for a handball.
The ex-Dundalk man’s creativity had gone unrewarded earlier, particularly when Dylan Connolly fired a glaring chance over the bar. Aberdeen were
second-best, yet took the lead after 37 minutes when Jonny Hayes headed in a terrific cross from Matty Kennedy on a rare attack.
Then came Ferguson’s dismissal. It followed a collision with Jon Obika, the midfielder claiming he’d been caught first by Obika’s arm. Bobby Madden disagreed. His decision to reach for a second yellow then a red i ncensed Derek McInnes, also booked for his protests.
The Pittodrie side dug deep thereafter, yet thought they had been undone at the death. Joe Lewis — whose error cost them in the Betfred Cup tie — was left scrambling and unable to gather. Erwin got clear of him but struck straight at Andrew Considine, who blocked on the line. In the St Mirren technical area, hands reflexively went to heads. ‘It was a good chance and you’d expect him to put them away but in this case it wasn’t to be,’ said Shaughnessy, who argued a point against Aberdeen was still a good result. True, i n terms of relative resources, but this was yet another below- par performance from the Dons, even with 11 men. They are now down to fourth after winning just one of their last seven.
St Mirren still have a game in hand on both Hamilton and Ross County as they continue a challenging December schedule.
‘If you weren’t winning games or creating chances, you’d be worried,’ added Shaughnessy. ‘ But we are creating a lot and it’s just coming down to that final bit needed.
‘There’s no point looking at the table just now anyway. The performance was good, in fact over the last six or seven games the performances have been decent. We just need to put our chances away and if we do that, I think we’ll be fine.’