Stryjek stands tall to send Lions through

Charles Dunne limped off and was replaced by McCarthy. The Saints manager confirmed afterwards the defender had a slight strain.

The opening goal arrived four minutes before the break. Scott Pittman burst forward and slipped the ball to Forrest on the left, who cut on to his right foot and curled the ball into the far corner from 18 yards.

But within two minutes, St Mirren wasted a chance to equalise. Eamonn Brophy beat the offside trap, raced through on goal but Stryjek stood strong to block his effort. The striker’s followup was dragged wide.

Martindale brought on fellow new signing Harrison Panayiotou for his debut midway through the second half, replacing Bruce Anderson.

But within 11 minutes, his game was over when he was subbed for Andrew Shinnie.

‘I was going to put Shinnie on,’ admitted Martindale. ‘Harrison came in on Thursday and I didn’t really have a chance to check on his fitness. He did two training sessions but very minimal sessions.

‘I was going to try Shinnie but I was very conscious he was just coming back from injury. After 10 minutes, I think I had made a mistake.

‘I made the wrong sub. I threw the boy in at the deep end when I should have put on Andrew Shinnie.’

Another strange twist soon followed when St Mirren equalised on 82 minutes as Scott Tanser’s free-kick was converted from close range by McCarthy.

Only an offside flag denied the visitors a stunning second goal a minute later after Curtis Main fired home.

Livingston’s record appearance holder Keaghan Jacobs made his return to action after 17 months out injured in extra-time.

The hosts thought they had scored the winner with seven minutes remaining when Ayo Obileye’s header struck the post and Nicky Devlin got a touch on the rebound. Their claims that the ball had crossed the line were ignored by the officials.

‘I spoke to two St Mirren players after the game and they said it was a yard over the line,’ added Martindale.

‘If I was sitting here after we had lost on penalties, then I might have been in a different mood. I think we need VAR for situations like that.’

Main, Jacobs, Craig Sibbald, and Cammy MacPherson all fluffed their lines in the shoot-out. It went to sudden death and after Jason Holt scored, McAllister saw his spot-kick saved.

‘We’ve been on the right end of penalty shoot-outs on two or three occasions last season,’ said Goodwin.

‘Today we’re on the wrong end of it. It’s a lottery. You win some, you lose some. I can’t fault the guys who stepped up.’