Ugly enough’ says Saints boss after Accies cruise to victory
because of one poor showing. He said: “Without the ball we weren’t good, but with the ball I thought we were probably worse, particularly in the second half.
“The desire to do the graft and the ugly side of the game were the things that were really missing.
“At my old club in Coleraine, we went through two or three years of this in a building stage before we got to where we wanted.
“As a newly-promoted club, we’re probably going to lose more than we’ll win and the important thing is the progress and learning as that happens.
“Goals change games and I suppose there are a few scars from what went on earlier in the season. We have to change the mindset because if they’re going to feel sorry for themselves every time they go behind or lose a game. It’s going to be a long season.”
The game was 10 minutes late in kicking off after officials struggled to stop an announcement instructing fans to evacuate the stadium because of an emergency situation.
It seemed the only way to silence the automated message was to switch off the tannoy – there were no announcements throughout the match.
That meant it was a surprise to see Cammy Macpherson in Saints’ starting 11. He was drafted in when Jack Baird pulled up in the warmup.
The reshuffle saw Paul Mcginn playing in central defence alongside Anton Ferdinand.
Accies hit two goals in two minutes and were comfortably in charge at the break.
The first came when Miller fed Boyd on the left, his shot was parried by Samson, but hooked home by Norwegian Fredrik Brustad.
Miller then blasted in a penalty after Kirkpatrick felled Imrie.
The large Saints’ travelling support must have been hoping for a reaction from their favourites after half-time.
They didn’t get one.
What they got was a good view of Mickel Miller scoring a cracker of a third goal.
The Englishman slammed a low drive from the edge of box that hit both posts before crossing the line.
It topped a good afternoon for the former Carshalton Athletic forward. He and Steven Boyd were a powerful pairing in midfield. Accies’ manager Martin Canning was pleased with his side’s second league victory of the season.
He said: “The boys were excellent. “We worked hard throughout the week on changing our shape and I thought the boys bought into that. “I wanted them to enjoy a game of football, but I also told them you have to win the battle, first of all. “I thought the balance between us winning the ball and getting it down and playing was very good.” Canning saluted Boyd and Miller for their showings.
He went on: “Steven is proving he’s more than good enough to play at this level.
“He has everything when it comes to ability and he just has to convince himself of that in his head.
“Mikel was brilliant. It wasn’t just his attacking, but the effort he made when we lost the ball.
“I thought that typified our performance.” ACCIES:
(3-5-1-1) Woods 7; Want 7, Kilgallon 7, Mcmann 6; Mcgowan 6, Martin 6 (Tshiembe 73, 5), Mackinnon 6 (Taiwo 43, 6), Imrie 7; Miller 8; Boyd 7; Brustad 6 (Bingham 55, 6). Unused subs – Fulton (Gk), Gordon, Keatings, Kelly. ST MIRREN:
(4-2-3-1) Samson 6; Macpherson 6, P. Mcginn 6, Ferdinand 5, Hodson 5; S. Mcginn 6, Flynn 6, Edwards 5, Smith 6 (Brock-madson 62, 5), Coulson 5 (Kirkpatrick 31, 5); Mullen 5 (Willock 84, 5).Unused subs – Muir (Gk), Erhahon, Breadner.