Allan McManus’ young Saints team travelled to Wales to take on a Wrexham side who made 11 changes from their last outing.
Saints made three changes from the team that drew 2-2 with Motherwell in the SPFL Reserve League on Monday afternoon. Dean Lyness, Cammy MacPherson and Jay Henderson replaced Oan Djorkeaff and David Wilson who dropped out completely, while Kyle Girvan moved to the bench.
Saints took kick off and were on the front foot from the start and had a very good shout for a penalty when a nice interchange between Matty Grant and Henderson on the right saw Henderson’s cross hit the outstretched arm of Wrexham defender Chambers. But the ref waved away saints appeals.
Wrexham's first chance came in the seventh minute when a Bickerstaff back heel went harmlessly wide of the left hand post.
Two great blocks from Scott Glover then Nick McAllister respectively were sandwiched in-between a Saints counter attack in a frantic 14th minute.
Nice work between Finlay Gray and Josh Jack saw Saints win a corner in the 19th minute. The well worked corner found MacPherson whose shot deflected onto the post with the goalkeeper beaten.
Things started to heat up in the game in the 27th minute when an off the ball incident between McAllister and McIntosh resulted in a Buddies free-kick and a stern warning for both players. A minute later the ref reached into his pocket for the first time when a late tackle on Ethan Erhahon by Redmond saw the Wrexham man pick up a yellow card.
Saints forced two corners in quick succession. Jack brought out a smart save by Lainton as he held on low to his left, while the goalkeeper was called into action again soon after when Conor McBrearty forced a save at near post from 20 yards.
Cammy Breadner had a great chance that stung the palms of Lainton after midfielder Chalmers gave away possession on halfway. The winger had another opportunity soon after when picked the ball up and drove forward, but his shot from just outside the area never really troubled the Wrexham 'keeper.
The second half started in disastrous fashion for Saints. The home side pushed forward on the left and a cross found Redmond unmarked from 12 yards his shot was deflected under Lyness.
The next Wrexham attack came on 56 minutes and saw Ben Tollitt receive the ball on the left hand side of the penalty box. Tollitt was brought down by a challenge from MacPherson and the referee pointed to the spot. MacPherson went into the book for the foul and McIntosh dispatched the spot-kick neatly sending the keeper the wrong way.
Saints made their first substitution after 59 minutes with Lewis Jamieson coming on to replace Grant.
That paid off for the Buddies when, in the 68th minute, Jamieson done well to chase a McBrearty ball down the right hand side. He slipped the ball inside the defender to the onrushing Jay Henderson who finished the ball high beyond Lainton first time to half the home side's lead.
Saints pushed for the equaliser but were caught on the counter as Wrexham made it 3-1 with around 15 minutes remaining. The Red Dragons cleared a St Mirren corner and broke at speed with McIntosh grabbing his second, sliding the ball past Lyness from five yards to stretch their advantage.
To their credit, Allan McManus' side kept fighting with a Jamieson header flashing wide from a Henderson cross.
McIntosh was denied a hat-trick with less than 10 minutes to go when his acrobatic effort was ruled offside.
Tollitt put the game beyond any doubt as he scored in the 89th minute. He beat two defenders before slotting ball into the net from close range for the icing on the cake for Wrexham.
As much as they are disappointed Allan McManus, his team and backroom staff can all be proud of their achievements in this cup run.
