St Mirren's VAR woes continued as the Buddies were yet again rueing big calls as we were defeated by Hibernian at The SMiSA Stadium.
Marcus Fraser and Dan Nlundulu both saw goals ruled out after VAR intervention with Saints now having had four goals chopped off in our last three home matches.
Hibernian were clinical on the evening with Josh Mulligan, Chris Cadden and Miguel Chaiwa scoring to give the visitors a 3-0 win and secure their first win over Saints since 2023.
Stephen Robinson's men thought they'd gotten off to the perfect start when Fraser headed home with just five minutes on the clock. The stand-in skipper was found unmarked in the area and met Keanu Baccus' cross to nod through the legs of Hibernian goalkeeper Raphael Sallinger. But a lengthy VAR check ensued which eventually resulted in the goal being disallowed for offside, with questions over the decision.
Marcus Fraser saw his goal disallowed (Image: Allan Picken)
The visitors hit the front on 24 minutes and while it came from a defensive error, there could be no taking away from the finish from Mulligan. Richard King - in for the suspended Alex Gogic - couldn't control Shamal George's pass and that allowed ex-Saint Jamie McGrath to steal the ball deep in the Saints half. He picked out the onrushing Mulligan who came charging in to fire home from 18 yards.
The Buddies should have drawn level with eight minutes of the first-half remaining. Baccus was picked out by a Liam Donnelly cross, but the Australian's effort was straight at Sallinger. The Hibernian goalkeeper couldn't gather with Killian Phillips unable to force home the rebound. Donnelly was then denied by a good save from the Hibs stopper as he pushed away the Northern Irishman's header in the final minute of the half.
Saints looked to have started the second-half in the best fashion with Nlundulu scoring another fine finish from the edge of the area less than 60 seconds after the restart. But VAR would intervene again to deny the forward his fourth goal in four games with offside given after another lengthy check.
Frustratingly, the visitors would add a second on 53 minutes. Chris Cadden met his brother Nicky's cross at the back end of the box and slammed beyond George to make it 2-0.
And when your luck is out, your luck is out. Substitute Miguel Chaiwa added a third 10 minutes from time. He picked the ball up 20 yards from goal and saw his fierce hit take a wicked deflection and crash in off the underside of the bar.
Full-Time: St Mirren 0-3 Hibernian
St Mirren: George, Fraser (c), King, Freckleton, Richardson (McMenamin 58), Phillips, Baccus, Donnelly (Idowu 58), John (Tanser 81), Nlundulu (Dijksteel 81), Mandron (Ayunga 73)
Subs Not Used: Mullen, Taylor, Calvin, Mooney
Hibernian: Sallinger, Iredale, Rocky, Hanley, C.Cadden, Mulligan, Barlaser (Chaiwa 78), McGrath (Campbell 69), N.Cadden (Obita 85), Boyle (Klidje 69), Bowie (Hoilett 84)
Subs Not Used: Smith, Megwa, O'Hora, Youan
Referee: David Dickinson
AR1: Jonathan Bell
AR2: Chris Gentles
Fourth Official: Iain Snedden
VAR: Andrew Dallas
Attendance: 7,116
