SUFFERING SAINTS STUNG BY THOMSON
A LATE equaliser from Robert Thomson saw Dumbarton maintain their 11-point lead over a Saints side who remain rooted to the bottom of the table.
The Paisley men led twice yesterday and looked capable of securing a vital win, but resilient Sons refused to accept defeat.
St Mirren now have just 13 games to secure their place in the Championship and boss Jack Ross admitted: ‘Our form hasn’t been too bad but we’re running out of games.
‘We can only influence what we do. You can look at it as two points dropped or a point gained, but I feel a sense of frustration.
‘We needed to do more to see games out after going ahead.’
Ross’ side thought they had broken the deadlock when Cammy Smith’s deflected shot headed for the net only for Daniel Harvie to produce a last-ditch goal-line clearance.
Dumbarton then came close to taking the lead. David Smith’s cross found Thomson on the six-yard line, but Gary Irvine rescued Saints with a superb tackle.
The visitors promptly broke upfield to open the scoring, Smith’s cross finding David Clarkson who produced a deadly finish.
Sons equalised 11 minutes into the second half when Christian Nade met Andy Stirling’s corner with a bullet header that gave Saints keeper Billy O’Brien no chance.
But Saints restored their lead after 71 minutes when debutant Harry Davis rose above the home defence to head Stephen McGinn’s corner high into the net.
A priceless win looked on the cards for the basement boys but Dumbarton levelled again when Thomson reacted first to Nade’s knock-down to poke the ball into the net.
Dumbarton boss Stevie Aitken said: ‘We knew the importance of today’s game and I told the players to make sure the gap was at least the same by the end of the game.’