St.Mirren 4 Dunfermline 4
Saints frustratingly reverted to type by conceding a late equaliser at home to relegation-threatened Dunfermline, despite having 2 two-goal cushions in the second half. It’s a result that will frustrate the Buddies not least because of two points being thrown away, but with Aberdeen winning in Inverness it is a blow to our quest for 7th position.
Danny Lennon made two changes for this game from the side that played Rangers. Carey replaced the suspended Tesselar and Jim Goodwin came in for Steven Thomson. Goodwin appeared to start in a 3-man central defence with Mair and McAusland, with Carey and Van Zanten being preferred in a more attacking role.
Saints started very much unlike themselves by scoring an early goal inside four minutes. After a dour start the first chance of the game saw a lovely passing move linking van Zanten, Thompson and McGowan. The latter slid the ball through for an onside Nigel Hasselbaink to slide the ball under former Saints keeper Chris Smith.
Dunfermline sparked into life soon after the deficit. Hutton shot wide and Graham rattled the post with Craig Samson beaten all ends up. The warnings weren’t heeded as Jordan MacMillan cut inside from the right and curling a beautiful effort beyond the Saints keeper to restore parity.
Saints soon regained control of the match by moving Goodwin back into midfield. The Irishman’s tough tackling, much missed in the recent minutes and indeed weeks, began to quell any Dunfermline pressure. Saints looked far more comfortable with the familiar 4-4-2 formation, and soon regained their passing rhythm. Another tactical masterstroke from Lennon saw the Buds swing many high balls into the box to trouble the error-prone Smith. Gowser connected with Carey’s deep cross and his header was unlucky to hit the bar, and Thompson even unluckier not to connect with the rebound. The tactic to hustle Smith included shooting from distance, however on these occasions he wasn’t troubled by efforts from Imrie and McGowan. Thompson did get lucky minutes later however. Carey’s teasing cross was met by the onrushing striker to power a header past Smith to put St Mirren 2-1 in front at half time.
Danny Lennon made two changes for this game from the side that played Rangers. Carey replaced the suspended Tesselar and Jim Goodwin came in for Steven Thomson. Goodwin appeared to start in a 3-man central defence with Mair and McAusland, with Carey and Van Zanten being preferred in a more attacking role.
Saints started very much unlike themselves by scoring an early goal inside four minutes. After a dour start the first chance of the game saw a lovely passing move linking van Zanten, Thompson and McGowan. The latter slid the ball through for an onside Nigel Hasselbaink to slide the ball under former Saints keeper Chris Smith.
Dunfermline sparked into life soon after the deficit. Hutton shot wide and Graham rattled the post with Craig Samson beaten all ends up. The warnings weren’t heeded as Jordan MacMillan cut inside from the right and curling a beautiful effort beyond the Saints keeper to restore parity.
Saints soon regained control of the match by moving Goodwin back into midfield. The Irishman’s tough tackling, much missed in the recent minutes and indeed weeks, began to quell any Dunfermline pressure. Saints looked far more comfortable with the familiar 4-4-2 formation, and soon regained their passing rhythm. Another tactical masterstroke from Lennon saw the Buds swing many high balls into the box to trouble the error-prone Smith. Gowser connected with Carey’s deep cross and his header was unlucky to hit the bar, and Thompson even unluckier not to connect with the rebound. The tactic to hustle Smith included shooting from distance, however on these occasions he wasn’t troubled by efforts from Imrie and McGowan. Thompson did get lucky minutes later however. Carey’s teasing cross was met by the onrushing striker to power a header past Smith to put St Mirren 2-1 in front at half time.
The goal might have effectively killed the Pars’ survival hopes, and it looked to have further crushed their dreams two minutes after the restart. Dougie Imrie’s floated cross was met by the head of Thompson once more to place Saints in powerful position in both the match and the league table, firing us ahead of Kilmarnock albeit temporarily.
The Fifers hit back with an intricate attack ten minutes later. Graham’s one-two with Martin Hardie on the edge of the box gave him that extra yard to pick his spot, and looked very composed as he finished well past Samson. Dunfermline maintained the momentum soon after and they went close as Samson saved from Hardie.
Saints bossed their way back into the match, switching the play quickly to Carey on the left and an Imrie/van Zanten duo on the right. And it was the Irishman who set up Thompson for the all important hat-trick. He laid the ball to the big striker who cracked his third of the match into the roof of the net. I’m sure just about everyone considered the game won and Dunfermline all but destined to play Cowdenbeath and Morton next season.
However they refused to lie down and mounted yet another comeback straight away. Just 4 minutes after Thompson’s brilliance, Liam Buchannan picked up the ball 20 yards from goal and bettered Thompson’s previous effort as he thundered his 20 yard effort into the top right hand corner.
With 20 minutes remaining anything was possible. Such had been the pattern of play that the next goal would surely go the way of St Mirren to finally finish the game as a contest. However it wasn’t to be. Two substitutions were made by Danny Lennon who introduced Gary Teale and Thomas Reilly for Imrie and Hasselbaink respectively. The tension was palpable in the final 10 minutes and despite the narrow scoreline and the Pars’ onslaught, I’m sure the majority of Buddies felt the days of conceding late goals were behind us.
Oh how wrong we were. With two minutes left on the clock, Smith was allowed to gather a Saints corner unimpeded, and Dunfermline surged forward. Jo Cardle gathered the ball out wide, and his cross was met by the head of substitute Andy Kirk who inflicted the unthinkable, and rescued a vital point in their battle against the drop.
It’s a sore one for St Mirren to take, leaving both manager and supporters desperately grasping for any positives to be taken from the match. The unwanted point at least arithmetically secures our SPL survival for yet another season (as if there was any doubt), and Steven Thompson will receive a huge confidence boost by scoring only our second hat-trick in SPL history. It may also highlight the benefit of repeated crosses into the box; a tactic which has sorely been lacking at times this season, and one on which our star striker thrives. And as he’s shown today it’s one that produces vital goals. However the overriding feeling of disappointment is understandable. Surrendering a two goal cushion and scoring four goals, yet still not managing to win the game is astounding. But we must look at these positives. Four goals in two home games when we couldn’t buy a goal in recent times is an achievement, and a more free and attacking style is yielding more goals. Hopefully this will set up an interesting and entertaining end to the season in a league which leaves us with very little to play for.
Comments
the further up the league we finish the more cash we get.
this could be the difference between getting the players we want and need for next season OR NOT.
that is why what happened yesterday was a disaster. we cannot afford to do the same in the remaining games
throwing away a 2 goal lead not once but twice in the one match is totally criminal
had we [censored]g on and got the 3 points we would be in 8th place and only 1 point behind aberdeen
i hope that everyone at the club learns the lesson and gets it sorted before the visit of hibs .
matts dad
I kinow we are safe from relegartion but surely it should be our aim to finish the season in as high a position as possible not only for the extra cash it will bring but also for something equally as important........ PRIDE.
I do think that the supporters are well aware that "points makes prizes" and the more points we can win the more funds will be available to strengthen the team next season.
I also read with some dismay that the Richard Atkinson and his merry band of chancers are now marching on with their disasterous attempt to take over the club. How much money will they be putting into the "pot" to buy new players next season? ............. I will tell you ............ NOT A PENNY!!!
I am not a great fan of Jim Traynor but on the radio recently he reckoned that this move will not benefit Saint Mirren one little biy and I must agree with him.
I must agree with you..... I think Thompson has been a great signing and add a lot to the team. If you watch him on the pitch he is always helping the younger players and is always involved.
A few more "Thompsons" in the team and we are well on the way.
I do worry about our defence though.
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