St Mirren's hopes of reaching the Premier Sports Cup quarter-finals were ended after a penalty shoot-out loss at Livingston.

Conor McCarthy's late goal took the match to extra-time after Alan Forrest had given Livingston the lead.

Neither side could make the breakthrough in the added 30 minutes with the game heading to a penalty shoot-out. Despite Jamie McGrath, Joe Shaughnessy and Lee Erwin netting from 12 yards, Saints lost 4-3. 

Both sides had chances in the opening stages of the match with Odin Bailey sending an effort just wide of the post on 14 minutes for the home side. Saints passed up a gilt-edged chance seven minutes later when Greg Kiltie had an abundance of time and space in the box, but had his low effort pushed away by Livingston goalkeeper Max Stryjek. 

The Buddies were having the best of the first-half and again had another opportunity after a brilliant bit of skill from McGrath allowed the Irishman to fashion space on the left-hand side before clipping a wonderful ball into area. Richard Tait was leaning back as he managed to get his head on it but flicked wide.

Despite Saints' pressure, Livi took the lead with four minutes of the half remaining. Sibbald drove forward and slipped through to Forrest who had burst down the left channel unopposed. The winger made his way into the box before slotting beyond Jak Alnwick to open the scoring.

St Mirren should have been level immediately though when Brophy broke the offside trap and raced clear on goal a minute later. The forward was one-on-one with Stryjek but had his low strike blocked by the goalkeeper. Stryjek couldn't hold which allowed Brophy a second bite at it, but he sent wide from an angle with Livi defenders having got back on the line to cover.

The second-half was a scrappy affair with neither side creating much in the way of goal-mouth opportunities and with time ebbing away it looked like it wouldn't be St Mirren's day.

But with less than 10 minutes of normal time left, Saints found a leveller through substitute McCarthy. A free-kick on the left was swung in deep to the back post by Scott Tanser with McCarthy ghosting in ahead of the Livingston defence to slam home. 

And Saints thought they were ahead just a minute later when Curtis Main had the ball in the net, only for the far side linesman's offside flag to be raised. 

Conor McCarthy celebrates levelling for Saints.

The game went to extra-time and Livingston were convinced they had scored with 10 minutes remaining. An Ayo Obileye header came crashing off the post with Nicky Devlin forcing the rebound goal-ward. It was scooped up on the line by Alnwick with the Livi players and supporters protesting to the referee and linesman that it had crossed the line.  

Despite being forced to play the remainder of extra-time with 10 men when Tanser had to come off injured, Saints took the match to penalties.

McGrath, Shaughnessy and Erwin all scored from the spot, while Alnwick saved from Keaghan Jacobs and Craig Sibbald. But Stryjek stopped the decisive penalty from Kyle McAllister in sudden death to give the West Lothian side the victory. 

Full-Time: Livingston 1-1 St Mirren (Livingston win 4-3 on penalties)

St Mirren: Alnwick, Fraser (McAllister 72), Shaughnessy (c), Dunne (McCarthy 27), Tait (Henderson 58), McGrath, Kiltie (MacPherson 58), Erhahon, Tanser, Main, Brophy (Erwin 91)
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Finlayson, Flynn, Jack

Livingston: Stryjek, Devlin, Fitzwater, Obileye, Longridge (Jacobs 103), Holt, Pittman, Sibbald, Bailey (Kelly 62), Forrest (Hamilton 66), Anderson (Panayiotou 66, Shinnie 78)
Subs Not Used: Bardon, Reilly, Bartley

Referee: David Munro
Assistant Referee: Frank Connor
Assistant Referee: Graham Chambers
Fourth Official: Gavin Duncan

Attendance: 1,855

Thank you for the patience shown throughout our journey to safely welcome supporters back to The SMiSA stadium. We have been cautiously increasing stadium attendance to keep players, fans and staff as safe as possible and moving forward we will welcome the highest number of fans since before the pandemic. For the next home match, we will be able to have close to capacity back in the stadium.

The countdown is on to 29th August when the Saints face St Johnstone. Together, the players and fans will experience our biggest home crowd in over a year. Our highest priority has always been and continues to be your safety over the past year, the club has gone to great lengths to ensure the stadium is as safe as possible for players, staff and fans and the priority of health and safety will remain in place.

COVID-19 Guidance

The club will remain compliant with the latest COVID-19 guidance. Throughout the lockdown, a great effort has been made by the club, swiftly reacting to latest guidance and putting into practice the measures required to follow all laws and understandably, prioritise health and safety. We will continue to follow guidance as long as needed and ask all fans who are returning to the stadium to follow the set advice, including wearing masks where necessary. Let’s all do our bit to keep each other safe and reduce the spread.

Stadium Maintenance

Before reopening the stadium doors, essential maintenance checks required to be completed. Our new safety team, in post in recent months, encountered some long-standing issues that had not been addressed. For example, one of the key priorities was the need to restore the stadium’s back-up electrical generator, as this was found not to have been serviced for a considerable number of years. Other long-standing issues such as emergency lighting that had not been dealt with in the way it should have been.

The club has a duty of care to ensure the stadium is of the highest quality standard and we are now satisfied that with the hard work and progress over the last few weeks to make vital improvements we can safely get all our fans back. The SMiSA Stadium is now the best condition it has been since opening and we are excited to bring fans back in to watch our team.

Previously, the entire Main Stand was a restricted red zone for players while the St Mirren Training Ground underwent much-needed renovation. Strict guidance had to be followed to keep the team safe, healthy and able to play matches each week - the rules included limiting the number of people accessing the Main Stand. However, with time and the easing of restrictions, a resolution has been found and the red zone area has now been reduced, allowing for more of the stadium to be opened.

Moving Forward

The return of thousands of fans is a huge step in the right direction. Everyone at the club cannot wait to have the fans back where they belong.

St Mirren Chief Executive, Tony Fitzpatrick shared: "Welcoming the larger crowd of fans back to the stadium will be spectacular. It will be an emotional scene to once again see those seats filled.

"Over the past few months, the club has had to work hard, adapt and put into motion new operations that comply with regulations. I was extremely disappointed with the long-standing issues that the new safety team recently encountered. Our new team have the highest possible standards for safety and will not compromise on this. The Board have backed our safety team with new and increased resources as the safety of our fans, staff and club reputation will never be compromised. I want to put on record my appreciation and respect to our new safety team who have more than risen to the challenge in last few months.

"I have been a custodian of this club for 40 years and can now safely say I am surrounded by people who have the same core values to safety as a club of our standing deserves. The fans have shown great loyalty to the club and extreme patience, and I sincerely thank you for this. All the effort has been worth it now we are moving forward.

"Our infrastructure is the best our club has had for years laying the platform for success on the park. Our manager’s summer recruitment has been excellent, and our first team squad is of the highest standard that I can recall for many years. I am sure we will have another successful season."

COYS

Tony

Our cinch Premiership fixture against St Johnstone, originally scheduled for Saturday 28th August, has been rearranged due to St Johnstone's involvement in the UECL play-offs.

The new fixture details are below.

St Mirren v St Johnstone
cinch Premiership
Venue: The SMiSA Stadium, Paisley
Date: Sunday 29th August 2021
Kick-off: 3pm

St Mirren head to Livingston on Saturday in the Second-Round of the Premier Sports Cup.

The Buddies topped Group H with maximum points after wins over Dunfermline Athletic, Stenhousemuir and Partick Thistle as well as being awarded three points when Dumbarton couldn't fulfil their fixture.

Livingston finished runners-up in Group D behind cinch Championship side Raith Rovers. David Martindale's side defeated Brechin City and Cowdenbeath, but lost to Alloa Athletic. A bonus point penalty shoot-out win after a 0-0 draw with Raith saw the Lions finish second on eight points. 

Saints reached the semi-final of the Premier Sports Cup last season after memorable wins over Aberdeen and Rangers, but were defeated by Saturday's opponents in the Semi-Final. While Livi reached the Final last season, they lost 1-0 to St Johnstone.  

Match Details

Livingston v St Mirren
Competition: Premier Sports Cup
Date: Saturday 14th August 2021
Kick-off: 3pm
Venue: The Tony Macaroni Arena

Tickets

As a thank you to supporters, both clubs agreed reduced prices of £10 for adults and £5 for concessions.

These are now on-sale at the St Mirren Ticket Office and online.

There will be no TV coverage of Saturday's match. 

Previous

Saints last faced Livingston in February when the West Lothian side visited the SMiSA Stadium in cinch Premiership action. Cammy MacPherson earned the Buddies a 1-1 draw after Conor McCarthy's early own-goal gave the visitors the lead.

Cammy MacPherson scores in our last fixture against Livingston (Image: Allan Picken)

The only other meeting between the two sides in 2021 was in January in the aforementioned Premier Sports Cup Semi-Final. Scott Robinson's early goal gave Livingston a 1-0 win at Hampden.

Jim Goodwin's men were victorious on their last visit to the Tony Macaroni Arena. Jake Doyle-Hayes scored the game's only goal in what turned out to be Gary Holt's final match as Livingston manager. 

The officials

David Munro is the referee on Saturday. Frank Connor and Graham Chambers are linesmen and Gavin Duncan is the fourth official. 

Peter Urminsky saved THREE penalties in a penalty shoot-out victory for St Mirren B over cinch League Two side Kelty Hearts.

The Young Buds fell behind when Kelty captain Michael Tidser scored with 20 minutes of play remaining. But the Saints took the game to penalties when Josh Jack slammed home on 89 minutes to level. 

Urminsky saved penalties from Jamie Barjonas, Botti Biabi and Joe Cardle while Kieran Offord, Dean McMaster and Jack netted from 12 yards as the Buddies progressed to the second-round of the SPFL Trust Trophy where they will face Albion Rovers.

Full-Time: St Mirren B 1-1 Kelty Hearts (St Mirren B win 3-0 on penalties)

Josh Jack slams home the winning penalty

St Mirren: Urminsky, McDonald, Ellis (Thomson 81), Finlayson, Kenny, McMaster, Struthers, Reid (Gallagher 45), Offord, Jack (c), Taylor (Donaldson 75)
Subs Not Used: Thackery, Gilmartin, Czpala, McManus

Kelty Hearts: Donaldson, McNab, Peggie, Hooper, Hill (Philip 45), Barron (Biabi 51), Tidser (Finnan 79), Black, Cardle, Russell (Barjonas 51), Agyeman (Higginbotham 51)
Subs Not Used: Jamieson, Forster, O'Ware

Referee: Chris Graham
Assistant Referee: Graham McNeillie
Assistant Referee: Brian Christie

On Saturday, St Mirren travel to Livingston for our first full away day since March 2020.

As a thank you to supporters, both clubs have agreed reduced match ticket prices of £10 for adults and £5 for concessions. 

St Mirren are also running two buses from the SMiSA Stadium which are now full. We are also paying the costs for the four official supporters travel club buses.

The info on Travel Clubs heading to Livingston for the match is as follows:

Tile Bar Supporters Bus

The Tile Bar are running a bus to Livingston.

It will be leaving at 1.15pm.

Cockles Wilson Supporters Bus

The Cockles Wilson Supporters Bus leaves at 1pm from Central Way.

You can book a seat by contacting Fraser Burns on the Cockles Wilson supporters club pages on Facebook or Twitter. These are almost sold out. 

The Bankhouse will open at 11am for food and drinks.  

North End Travel Club

The North End travel Club bus (The Brewer's Tap) will leave the Sneddon at 1pm.

All tickets are free. Tickets for non-members are available in the Brewer's Tap and are also free.

St Mirren are in Premier Sports Cup action this weekend as Saints take on Livingston at the Tony Macaroni Arena.

Both clubs have come together to agree reduced prices as a thank you to fans for their support of each club over the past 18 months. Tickets will be priced at £10 for adults and £5 for concessions. While this is a small gesture, it is one we hope is appreciated by all supporters. 

The club is due to receive an initial allocation of around 1200 tickets. Once these arrive they will be available to purchase at the St Mirren ticket office. Tickets will also be available online at Livingston's platform. To buy tickets click on the St Mirren Fans Only option. 

Importantly, every seat needs to be assigned to an account. So, for every ticket purchase, there must be an account created. You cannot purchase more than one ticket under the same name. You can see below where to assign the tickets to specific individuals in the screenshot below:

The club will run two free buses from the SMiSA Stadium for supporters and will also pay the costs for the four official supporters travel club buses. The club run buses are now full!

Livingston vs St Mirren
Premier Sports Cup
Venue: Tony Macaroni Arena, Livingston
Date: Saturday 14th August 2021
Kick-off: 3:00pm

Prices

Adult - £10
Concession - £5

St Mirren B face Kelty Hearts in the first-round of the SPFL Trust Trophy tonight (Tuesday 10th August).

Allan McManus' side will take on the cinch League Two outfit at SMiSA Stadium with a 7:45pm kick-off. 

Season ticket holders can claim their free ticket for tonight's match by visiting stmirren.com/claimyourseat. General sale tickets will be priced at £10 for adults and £5 for concessions and are available online at stmirren.com/cuptickets. Please note that e-tickets will be sent out via email once purchase has been complete and these should be used for entry and no seats are behind held for the match.

Only the West Stand will be open for St Mirren supporters, however, if demand dictates then we will open the Tony Fitzpatrick Family Stand. Kiosks will not be open at the match, but supporters will be allowed to bring a bottle of water and snacks.

The St Mirren Ticket Office will be open between 5pm and 8pm this evening for the sale of tickets for tonight's match only.

Kelty Hearts supporters can buy their tickets for tonight at stmirren.com/awaysupporters. 

St Mirren's first cinch Premiership home match of the 2021/22 season ended in defeat as the 10 men Buddies lost against Hearts.

Some neat passing allowed Andy Halliday to curl Hearts into the lead early on before Saints began to come more into the game and were perhaps unlucky not to find themselves level by the break. Eamonn Brophy and Curtis Main both went close to equalising in the second half only for Liam Boyce to add a second in a rare Jambos attack.

It looked as if that would be enough but it seemed Saints skipper Joe Shaughnessey had set up a grand stand finish with a great header five minutes from time -  only for Kristian Dennis to ruin that when he was almost immediately sent off for a foul on Peter Haring. As a result, the visitors were comfortably able to see out what little time remained to record their first league win in Paisley for more than a decade.

Saints boss Jim Goodwin made two changes to the side that drew with Dundee a week earlier,  Richard Tait and Greg Kiltie coming in for Ethan Erhahon and Jay Henderson. Hearts were along similar lines to the side that beat Celtic on the opening day, the only change being Haring replacing Stephen Kinglsey.

It was both sides' respective number tens who had the first chances, Hearts' Boyce heading narrowly wide a few moments before Main turned and shot inches past the post at the other end. The visitors had been enjoying plenty of early possession and used that to good advantage to get themselves in front after little more than a quarter of an hour. Beni Baningime slid the ball through to Boyce and he held on to it before pulling it back for Halliday, who curled a great shot beyond the reach of Jak Alnwick into the far corner. 

Josh Ginnelly almost lashed a wild shot out for a throw-in as the Jambos looked to double their lead before Craig Gordon was called into action for the first time, gathering Scott Tanser's dangerous cross when the slightest of touches from Richard Tait would probably have levelled the scores. Some wonderful work on the left from Jamie McGrath saw him create the space needed to deliver a delicious ball into the box and Main was unlucky to see his header rattle the crossbar, although it was irrelevant as ref Gavin Duncan had already blown for a foul in the box.

Richard Tait heads off the cross-bar but the defender had already been penalised for a foul.

Shaughnessy headed wide from McGrath's corner as Saints pushed again, the midfielder being wiped out by Beni Baningime the next time he got on the ball. Mr Duncan opted to play advantage but when Kiltie's shot was blocked, Hearts countered and Gary Mackay-Steven should have done better than drag a shot wide. The winger had another great chance when Ginnelly dummied a John Souttar pass from deep but he shot well over. Just before the break the returning home fans claimed for a penalty when Main hit the deck under Alex Cochrane's challenge, but Mr Duncan was unmoved.

Brophy turned and fired shots straight at Gordon twice in the opening stages of the second half before a tempting ball across goal from Kiltie found no takers. Main's volley from the edge of the box went agonisingly wide as the Buddies threatened again. Hearts had rarely looked like getting a second since the break but doubled their advantage with just over 15 minutes left.  Armand Gnanduillet somehow managed to retain possession despite sliding to the deck and the sub was able to slip the ball to Mackay-Steven. It was soon with Boyce at the edge of the box and he took a touch before drilling a low shot through the grasp of Alnwick to seemingly put the game to bed.

It appeared the Edinburgh side could now relax, sub Arron McEnuff just wide with a dig from long range, but there anxiety levels rose again with five minutes left when Shaughnessy thumped home Tanser's cross. However, hopes of a Saints comeback were thwarted within seconds of the restart when Dennis, who had only been on a few minutes, was shown a straight red card for clattering into Haring. Alnwick stopped Boyce adding a third for the visitors to ensure the hosts went into injury time with half a chance of salvaging something, the goalie in action again when he brilliantly denied Michael Smith. However, there were no similar chances at the other end meaning Saints rather harshly ended the afternoon with nothing to show for their efforts.

Captain Joe Shaughnessy celebrates pulling a goal back for Saints.

Full-Time: St Mirren 1-2 Hearts

St Mirren: Alnwick, Fraser, Shaughnessy (c), Dunne, Tait (Henderson 77), McGrath, Power, Kiltie (MacPherson 77), Tanser, Main, Brophy (Dennis 77)
Subs Not Used: Lyness, McCarthy, Erhahon, Erwin 

Hearts: Gordon, M.Smith, Souttar, Halkett, Cochrane, Haring, Baningime, Halliday, Mackay-Steven (McEneff 76), Ginnelly (Gnanduillet 64), Boyce (Henderson 88)
Subs Not Used: Stewart, C. Smith, Watson, Denholm

Referee: Gavin Duncan
Assistant Referee: Alastair Mather
Assistant Referee: Craig Ferguson
Fourth Official: Euan Anderson

Tomorrow we host our first home game of the cinch Premiership season against Heart of Midlothian.

Whilst we were hoping to increase our numbers to alleviate disappointment and frustration amongst our loyal fans, we have to work within the capacity of 1039 to guarantee the safety of all of those who will attend, and to meet the social distancing requirements as set by The Scottish Government.

We have been working hard behind the scenes to rectify a number of historic issues within the stadium, that only came to light in the last few weeks, in the hopes of increasing the capacity at tomorrow's match. While we are progressing in a timely and efficient manner with these, frustratingly we have been unable to correct these issues in time for tomorrow.

Increasing the capacity to at least 5000

Following the announcement from The Scottish Government earlier this week, we can confidently say that the St Johnstone match on Saturday 28th August will host a capacity allowance of at least 5000, and we will be applying to the council to allow us to achieve the maximum number of supporters into The SMiSA Stadium. We will do everything in our power to increase the capacity above the 5000 and to welcome our fans back in to cheer on the Saints.

Early Bird Pricing Extension

Thank you to the 3000 season ticket holders who have already renewed your seat, your support is appreciated, especially as we navigated through a new ticketing system in a condensed period of time. We are aware that some of you may have waited to renew your season tickets based on the uncertainty surrounding stadium capacity. We are pleased to announce we are going extend early bird pricing for one more week to Monday 16th August to allow time to renew your ticket or to purchase one for the first time.

If you are planning to renew please email help@stmirren.com or call the ticket office on 0141-840-6120 because we are currently holding your seats. We have tried to contact everyone that has been waiting to hear from us. If you have an outstanding enquiry please call us, email us or visit the ticket office between 10am and 2pm.

We want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank you for your unwavering support through these difficult times. We cannot wait to see the stadium filled once more and look forward to welcoming you all back.

#InYouWeTrust