Party time for Saints after boss gets early gift of three points
Jim Goodwin sent his players off for a well-deserved Christmas break in Dublin.
The Saints’ boss might not have been so keen on them partying if they hadn’t left him with the gift of three precious points.
Victory at Hamilton saw his side jump out of the relegation play-off spot and into ninth position.
An aggressive performance by the Buddies brought a bit of early festive cheer to the fans who saw them go down meekly 3-0 at home to Motherwell in midweek.
Goodwin said: “I asked big questions of my players after the defeat by Motherwell.
“They answered a lot of them and every single one of them was up for it.
“It’s our first win on the road this season, so it was nice to put an end to that bad run.
“We had to stand up and be counted. Some players were out of position and it was very much a makeshift back four.
“It could have been more comfortable if their keeper hadn’t played out of his skin.
“They’re away on their Christmas do and every one of them deserves a beer after that.”
Both sides tinkered with their formations throughout the game – sometimes it was a back three, then it would revert to a four.
What didn’t change was that nobody was willing to take the risk of being caught in possession.
Any threat of being closed down was dealt with by a thumping clearance.
We still have five months of the season to play, but nerves are already beginning to show at the bottom of the league.
Goodwin’s men can feel a little more relaxed for the moment, but they know that can’t last for long.
They’re still only two points off the basement in an incredibly tight division.
St Mirren found direct football nearly paid off on a couple of occasions before they opened the scoring.
The diminutive Junior Morias was allowed to chest a forward punt into the path of Obika and he flashed a shot just wide.
The Jamaican came close to scoring just 15 seconds into the second half when he chased hopeful pass and prodded a shot against the post.
Accies had goalie Luke Southwood to thank for keeping them in the game.
The on-loan Reading man produced a string of top saves.
He could do nothing about the strike from Cammy MacPherson that proved to be the matchwinner, though.
A cross was knocked out to the edge of the box and MacPherson rifled a shot low into the corner.
It was the sort of aggression that typified St Mirren’s second-half showing.
They looked the hungrier side as Accies’ faded from the game until a minor rally right at the death.
Their cause wasn’t helped by the dismissal of Alex Gogic in the 77th minute.
The Cypriot defender stopped Cody Cooke racing forward with a clumsy challenge and, with the striker have a clear route to goal, the referee had to send him packing.
One worry for Goodwin was that Paul McGinn went off with a hamstring injury.
Saints are already missing defenders Kirk Broadfoot and Gary MacKenzie because of injury.
He added: “In the end up we were playing with a back five with Cody at left wing-back and Cammy MacPherson dropping in at centre-half which was ridiculous.
“We were a small team today in terms of height and we’ve got a game coming up against Livingston – it’s the Land of the Giants there.
“Hopefully a few pints of Guinness will cure our injured men and we’ll be alright.”