BEN RAMAGE

St Mirren finished their eventful season best of the rest thanks to a hard-fought draw with ten-man Dundee United.

On the final day of a rollercoaster campaign the Buddies knew just a point would be enough to finish seventh if Motherwell lost out to Ross County.

And thankfully for the Saints, the Staggies did them a massive favour by earning a win at Fir Park.

That meant that, despite failing to score in an entertaining goalless draw in Paisley with United’s Jamie Robson seeing red for a horrendous challenge on Kyle McAllister, Jim Goodwin’s side still achieved their highest top flight finish since 1989.

Having missed out on the top six by just two goals, seventh spot was a fine reward for a difficult season that has seen the club face battles both on and off the pitch.

Goodwin handed Eamonn Brophy a start as he continued his recovery from injury, with the striker coming in in place of soon to be out of contract Jon Obika.

He also kept faith with Ryan Flynn in midfield, and he immediately showed his superb passing range to unlock the Dundee United defence down the right wing early on.

The Buddies were getting plenty of joy down that flank, with Marcus Fraser also piercing the Terrors backline.

Unfortunately for Saints the crosses didn’t quite find their marks in what was still a promising start for the hosts.

After 12 minutes United finally started to click into gear.