Devlin at the death to dampen Buddies boss’s birthday
Mcgrath (68) LIVINGSTON 1 Devlin (89) Nicky Devlin ruined Jim Goodwin’s 40th birthday celebrations as he bagged a late equaliser to earn Livingston a point in Paisley.
Jamie Mcgrath’s stunning, long-range effort looked set to hand St Mirren the victory.
But Devlin blasted in a brilliant shot from the edge of the box after 89 minutes to send the Livi bench running down the touchline in celebration.
That wasn’t the end of the drama, however, with St Mirren adamant they should have had a penalty when Harry Panayiotou handled Scott Tanser’s corner.
Referee Steven Mclean, though, blew the final whistle immediately afterwards to leave the Buddies players incensed.
The point was still enough to take Saints into the top six but Goodwin felt it should have been all three.
The Irishman said: “Obviously, we’re extremely disappointed with the result. It feels like a defeat for us and no doubt a point gained for Livingston.
“To not manage to see the game out is extremely frustrating.
“We’ve had 14 games and drawn half of them and that’s not good enough. We need to turn two or three of those into victories and that would make a hell of a difference to the league table.
“There were two fantastic goals in the game. Two great strikes.
“The awareness of Jamie to see the keeper off his line and provide that type of finish was a touch of class. And it’s a heck of a strike from the Livingston player.”
Livi started on top and Cristiano Montano came close to breaking the deadlock with a header from Devlin’s cross that went just wide.
St Mirren grew into the game and Eamonn Brophy headed off target before Alan Power smashed an effort over the top after being picked out by Richard Tait in the box.
Saints were forced into a change at the back when Conor Mccarthy limped off to be replaced by Charles Dunne, with Mccarthy now set for a scan tomorrow to assess the damage.
And there was almost a double whammy for the Buddies before the break when Livingston came close to scoring.
Goalkeeper Max Stryjek played a brilliant long ball up the park to Bruce Anderson. And, after he had set up Odin Bailey, Jak Alnwick had to get down well to keep out the forward’s drilled shot.
Montano then had a great chance early in the second period but saw his effort blocked by Joe Shaughnessy close to goal.
The Colombian should have scored just minutes later from Bailey’s free-kick but Alnwick again made a smart save. Saints brought on striker Kristian Dennis to try to create more in attack.
Mcgrath volleyed just wide as the home side tried to get on the front foot but it was just a sighter for what was to come from him.
Tait looked to have been fouled by Stephane Omeonga just outside the box but the ball fell kindly for Mcgrath and, from 25 yards out, the Irish international swept in a stunning shot over Stryjek.
But Livingston launched one final attack. And, after Alnwick had denied Alan Forrest, Devlin drove in the rebound from the edge of the box.
That was heartbreaking for Goodwin but he insisted it wouldn’t ruin his big day.
He added: “I had a great morning with my wife and my three kids. They spoiled me rotten. And we’re going for a nice bit of dinner tonight. As fed up as I am at the moment, as soon as I see the kids’ faces I’ll be fine.
“I’ll get a bottle of red and a nice bit of scran.”