St Mirren took another small step towards SPL survival thanks to John Sutton's last-gasp equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Love Street. Hibs looked set for all three points when captain Rob Jones bundled them into the lead in the first half. But substitute Sutton netted with a minute to go, allowing Saints to increase their lead over bottom side Dunfermline to seven points before the clubs meet at the end of the month. Both managers rang the changes following a disappointing weekend. Saints boss Gus MacPherson made four changes following their defeat to Falkirk on Saturday. Eddie Malone, Paul Lawson and Billy Mehmet had to settle for a place on the bench and Andy Millen was dropped from the 18-man squad. Rangers-bound Kirk Broadfoot was drafted back into the starting line-up after serving his ban and he was joined by Garry Brady, Alan Reid and Craig Molloy. It was no real surprise to see Hibs boss John Collins also make wholesale changes following their derby defeat to Edinburgh rivals Hearts - and he axed no fewer than six players. In came Kevin McCann, Shelton Martis, Michael Stewart, Ivan Sproule, Thomas Sowunmi and Ross Chisholm - out went Steven Whittaker, Chris Hogg, Guillaume Beuzelin, Lewis Stevenson, Abdessalam Benjelloun and Steven Fletcher.
Goalkeeper Andrew McNeil kept his place between the sticks, despite his blunder gifting Hearts the winner, and he was called into action in the opening minutes. Molloy's shot was blocked in a packed box by a green jersey but Saints had another stab at goal when the ball fell kindly to the feet of Stewart Keane - only for his weak effort to be scooped up by the Hibs keeper. Undeterred, Keane had another go with a superb speculative drive, which whistled just over the crossbar and had the Saints fans on their feet. Instead, Hibs opened the scoring against the run of play with 19 minutes gone. Merouane Zemmama's free-kick was helped by Sowunmi into the path of Jones - and goalkeeper Chris Smith was left with no chance as the visiting skipper forced the ball home at the back post. Saints could have been back on level terms almost immediately thanks to Murray's opportunist 35-yard effort, which was teed up by Brady and dipped a yard over the crossbar. A period of possession followed from the home side, who had several chances to haul themselves back into the game before the break. Richard Brittain picked out Keane from a free-kick only for his header to glance just wide of target, before the same player hooked over from close-range. Saints then suffered a setback just four minutes from half-time when Molloy limped off the park and was replaced by Mark Corcoran.
Hibs took advantage of the interval to make two changes of their own; Stewart and Sowunmi replaced by Beuzelin and Benjelloun. Keane had been the main sinner for the home side in the first half and he did no better after the restart, blasting well over from just outside the box. Saints then threw fit-again star striker Sutton into the action in place of Brady with an hour gone in the hope he could make the difference. Instead, it was Keane who should have had the net bulging when he threw himself in front of a David van Zanten cross - only to watch in disbelief as his point-blank header was blocked superbly by McNeil. Saints had Hibs under pressure again when they were handed an indirect free-kick with 10 minutes to go but Broadfoot failed to get the ball past the opposition wall and the chance was lost. John Potter then narrowly failed to connect at the back post as the home side battled vainly for a last-gasp point. And their hard work paid off when Sutton took advantage of a mistake by Jones to fire home in the 89th minute, securing a crucial point for the Paisley club.
St Mirren: Smith, van Zanten, Potter, Maxwell, Broadfoot, Brittain, Murray, Brady (Sutton 61), Reid (Mehmet 77), Kean, Molloy (Corcoran 42)
Subs Not Used: Hinchcliffe, Malone, Mackay, Lawson.
Goals: Sutton 89
Hibs: McNeil, McCann, Martis, Jones, Murphy, Stewart (Beuzelin 46), Scott Brown, Zemmama, Sproule (Stevenson 74), Sowunmi (Benjelloun 46), Chisholm
Subs Not Used: Simon Brown, Whittaker, Campbell, Shiels
Booked: Chisholm, McCann, Scott Brown, Martis
Goals: Jones 20
Att: 4,031
Ref: I Brines | Editor
Ger Harley (ger@scottishfitba net)
Admin Team (admin@scottishfitba net)
This is ScottishFitba Net |
