No losses in five for Buddies as Lions are put to the sword
Erhahon (29) It may not have been the performance he wanted but Jim Goodwin confessed he got just the result he craved after St Mirren registered back-to-back victories to stretch their unbeaten run to an impressive five matches.
Ethan Erhahon was the unlikely matchwinner, finishing off a swift counter-attack with a slice of good fortune when his shot slipped through the attempted save of Livingston goalkeeper Max Stryjek.
Following on from last weekend’s first win of their Premiership
campaign against Aberdeen, the Buddies now head into the international break hoping the lay-off does not break their momentum.
After netting three times against Aberdeen in a stirring display, Goodwin was thrilled to see another side to his team as they resolutely kept their hosts at bay in a match he admitted could easily have finished differently.
He said: “It’s very rare that you
see an attractive and entertaining game of football here. You need to give Livingston credit but any side in the Premiership would come here and take a 1-0 win all day long.
“We would obviously have loved to have played a bit more possession-based football and try and dominate the game that way.
“But I said to the boys before a ball was kicked that I didn’t care how we got the result today just as long as we came away with all three points.
“Putting together back-to-back victories was the most important thing and we managed to grind out the result.
“We stood up to everything Livingston had to throw at us and they will feel unlucky not to have taken a point.”
St Mirren travelled full of confidence and after an even start their belief rocketed still further with the opening goal.
Connor Ronan, the two-goal hero against the Dons, found the supporting Marcus Fraser, who in turn fed Erhahon on the left.
The defensive midfielder tried his luck with a powerful low drive and Stryjek was culpable as he failed to stop it finding his bottom left-hand corner.
Livingston responded well and Jak Alnwick had to save from James Penrice and Stephane Omeonga before Alan Forrest saw a shot deflected wide as the Lions pressed for an instant equaliser.
In first-half injury-time, Ayo Obileye’s volley was cleared off the line after Odin Bailey’s deep corner had been kept alive by Forrest.
Livingston were again on the front foot after the break but probably knew it was not going to be their day when Bailey’s netbound shot was deflected up and over the bar.
The visitors had opportunities of their own, breaking forward when allowed in search of a second. Conor Mccarthy should probably have sealed it 12 minutes from time but volleyed over. In the end, they did not require another as they held firm late on to spark boos from the home support.
Livingston manager David Martindale, who said he was “raging” at the manner of the goal, responded: “I don’t care what anybody says, I don’t think we deserved to lose that game today.
“On the balance of play we deserved more from the game. The players gave it everything and they were really unlucky.
“Do I think we were the better team? Yes, I do. Do I think we had the better chances? Yes, I do. But it’s football.
“So support. There’s a clue in the name – supporters. I just think, ‘ Would you pay your money to come and abuse people?’ Maybe it’s just me.”