Saints picked up a point on the road as we ended February with a 1-1 draw away to Livingston.
Dan Nlundulu gave us a first-half lead with an excellent header, but the Buddies were pegged back in the second-half when Brooklyn Kabongolo levelled with a header of his own to give the hosts a share of the spoils. Saints remain 10 points ahead of the bottom side, while moving three points ahead of Kilmarnock.
Stephen Robinson made six changes to his starting line-up after last weekend's defeat to Motherwell. That saw Marcus Fraser, Jayden Richardson, Scott Tanser, Keanu Baccus, Nlundulu and Mikael Mandron come in for Richard King, Conor McMenamin, Declan John, Jacob Devaney, Roland Idowu and Jake Young.
The Buddies began the game well and had the first real opportunity after only six minutes. Tanser swung a cross deep to the back post where it met Richardson whose looping header crashed off the bar. Saints were having a good spell of pressure in the opening stages with captain Mark O'Hara seeing a shot blocked in the area before Nlundulu's effort was deflected into the arms of Jerome Prior in the Livingston goal. Good pressing from Saints saw us win the ball back almost immediately with Mandron curling over the bar from 20 yards.
Despite the decent start, there was a huge let off for Saints on 18 minutes when Fraser misjudged the flight of the ball near his box. That allowed Robbie Muirhead to race on to the ball and get a strike away, but he sent it high and wide when he would have felt he should have hit the target.
O'Hara wasn't too far away from giving us the lead on 23 minutes when he picked up the ball on his chest and shot from 25 yards. His effort had Prior at full stretch as it drifted just over the bar.
Scott Pittman clipped wide of target of 32 minutes after a decent bit of play from the Lions. Macaulay Tait's cross found Daniel Finlayson at the right-hand side of the box. The defender laid it back to Pittman who couldn't find the target. Moments later, the home side passed up a bigger chance to take the lead. Alex Gogic got his head on a hopeful lumped ball over the top, but didn't put enough on the header allowing Lewis Smith to steal the ball at the edge of the box. The Livingston winger made his way into the box before being denied by a strong save from Shamal George who got two big hands behind the strike to push it wide.
It would be Saints who would hit the front as the game approached the interval. Killian Phillips launched the ball forward and Nlundulu did brilliantly to get a toe on it to take it away from Danny Wilson. The forward did well to get the ball under pressure from Kabongolo before O'Hara picked up the scraps and passed it to Tanser. Tanser switched from left to right finding Richardson who laid the ball into the path of Mandron inside the right side of the box. Mandron's cross was precise with Nlundulu doing brilliantly well to beat Kabongolo to find the net.
Dan Nlundulu celebrates his goal (Image: Alexander Muir)
Into the second-half, Nlundulu had an opportunity to double his and Saints' tally on 57 minutes. The striker did so well to reach a hopeful Tanser cross and beat two defenders, but his toed effort was tame and blocked by Prior. It came back out to Mandron whose shot was blocked before Livingston cleared.
O'Hara shot wide from 20 yards on 62 minutes, while Nlundulu fired into the side-netting three minutes later after racing on to a clipped ball from the skipper as Saints looked to get a second goal. But it was the home side who would ultimately find themselves level with less than 15 minutes remaining. Substitute Barrie McKay sent a high cross into a decent area where it would meet an unmarked Kabongolo and he made no mistake as he equalised for the Lions.
Neither side would create the chance for a winner and in truth a point was fair on the reflection of the overall match. Saints, however, were dealt a late blow when Mandron injured his shoulder and had to be substituted. The extent of the injury is yet to be known, but it does appear that the forward could be set for a spell on the sidelines.
Full-Time: Livingston 1-1 St Mirren
St Mirren: George, Fraser, Gogic, Freckleton, Richardson (King 90), Phillips (Young 90), Baccus (Donnelly 82), O'Hara (c), Tanser, Nlundulu (Idowu 82), Mandron (Etete 90)
Subs: Mullen, Campbell, Devaney, Calvin
Livingston: Prior, McGowan (c), Kabongolo, Wilson, Finlayson, Danso (Bokila 60), Pittman (Sylla 87), Tait, Fati, L.Smith (McKay 60), Muirhead (Nouble 69)
Subs: Smith, Kerr, Wanner, Arfield, May
Referee: Don Robertson
AR1: Ross MacLeod
AR2: David Roome
Fourth Official: Jamie McCunnie
VAR: Greg Aitken
