St Mirren in the Community would like to remind parents of changes to the community football classes timetable due to the upcoming holiday weekend.

The classes at Gryffe High School and Rashielea Primary School on Friday 23rd September and the classes at St Paul’s Primary School on Monday 26th September will all be cancelled due to the holiday.

The revised timetable for the next week is as follows:

Monday 19th September

St Pauls Primary School, Foxbar - Age: 3-5yrs - Time: 6:30pm-7:30pm

St Pauls Primary School, Foxbar - Age: 6-12yrs - Time: 7:30pm-8:30pm

Tuesday 20th September

Kilbarchan Primary School, Kilbarchan - Age: 3-5yrs - Time: 6:30pm-7:30pm

Kilbarchan Primary School, Kilbarchan - Age: 6-12yrs - Time: 7:30pm-8:30pm

Arkleston Primary School, Renfrew - Age: 3-5yrs - Time: 6:30pm-7:30pm

Arkleston Primary School, Renfrew - Age: 6-12yrs - Time: 7:30pm-8:30pm

Wednesday 21st September

Ralston Primary School, Ralston - Age: 3-5yrs - Time: 6:30pm-7:30pm

Ralston Primary School, Ralston - Age: 6-12yrs - Time: 7:30pm-8:30pm

Thursday 22nd September

Lochbarr Services, Lochwinnoch - Age: 3-5yrs - Time: 4:00pm-5:00pm

Lochbarr Services, Lochwinnoch - Age: 6-12yrs - Time: 5:00pm-6:00pm

Friday 23rd September

No classes due to holiday weekend.

Saturday 24th September

Carbrinin@JD Airdome - Age: 3-7yrs - Time: 9:00am-10:00am

Carbrinin@JD Airdome - Age: 8-12yrs - Time: 10:00am-11:00am

Sunday 25th September

Carbrinin@JD Airdome - Age: 3-6yrs - Time: 9:00am-10:00am

Carbrinin@JD Airdome - Age: 7-12yrs - Time: 10:00am-11:00am

Carbrinin@JD Airdome (Additional Supports Needs Football) - Age: 6-12yrs - Time: 10:00am-11:00am

Monday 26th September

No classes due to holiday weekend.

The first session is free then £3.50 per session thereafter made payable on the day.

For further information about Community Football Centres please call (0141) 889-2558 or e-mail communityadmin@stmirren.com.

St Mirren have terminated the contracts of both Manager Alex Rae and Assistant Manager David Farrell.

The Head of the Club's Academy, Allan McManus will take the team on an interim basis until a successor is appointed. This will be the Board's immediate priority.

The Board would like to thank both Alex and David for all of their efforts on behalf of the Club and wish them all the best for the future.

St Mirren FC will be making no further comment at this time.

With ten minutes of today’s game against Dumbarton left, 19-year-old Darren Whyte came on for his first team debut. The youngster couldn’t hide his delight on making his debut. He said:

“I’m absolutely delighted. I’ve been working really hard for it so it is great that it has finally came.

“A mixture of both [nerves and excitement] to be fair with adrenalin but it is great to finally make it.

“It’s there for everybody if they really work hard for it so I just need to try and kick on from here.”

Darren felt he did fine in his short outing and he appreciates the help he gets from the manager and the senior players in his development as a player. He said:

“I felt I done okay. Obviously it was a bit hard for my first game with the levels coming up from the under-20s but it was excellent and I’m sure I’ll get used to it and get there the more I play.

“It [playing first team football] is much more intense and physical as well but I’m obviously delighted.

“Alex Rae is great to work with. Even with the likes of Andy Webster it is excellent to have them at the under-20s games to help you out.”

The youngster didn’t hide his targets for the rest of the season. He said:

“More game time and to kick on from here.”

St Mirren came back from a goal down against Dumbarton this afternoon to earn a share of the points in a 1-1 draw at The Cheaper Insurance Direct Stadium. Alex Rae gave his thoughts post-match. He said:

“We passed up numerous chances today which was the most frustrating thing for us, but on a pleasing point of view we actually created three of four very good chances in the first half and obviously we had a couple in the second half that were gilt-edged. So we’re disappointed from that point of view but it was a spirited performance by the boys.

“We need to look for all the positives. The one thing for me is that we actually created very good chances today, unfortunately we just didn’t have the composure to bury them and get that win that we are desperate for.”

Saints are now six games into the league season without a win and the manager is aware of the importance of getting it on the board as soon as possible. He said:

“The longer it goes on the more difficult it becomes and people get frustrated but we’re all in this together. If we are divided we won’t conquer anything so it’s a case of everyone sticking together and trying to get over this difficult period.

“We obviously want to try and get that win to try and kick up the table and progress but we just need to keep going and be positive and that is what we will do.”

Under-20 player Darren Whyte made his first team debut coming on as a substitute late in the second half and Calum Gallagher made his return from injury as a substitute. The manager said:

“Darren is a committed character and we wanted to pick up some more second balls in the middle of the park and try and keep Dumbarton on the back foot, and he managed to do that.

“The thing is with Calum he has only trained four or five days since he has been out from the Raith Rovers game so he has not really played a lot of minutes but we just had to try and change it up a little bit and try and get a bit of impetus going forward. It was difficult for him because he obviously hasn’t had a lot of games.”

A few eyebrows were raised yesterday when it was confirmed that Ben Gordon has gone to Alloa Athletic on an emergency loan. Alex explains his reasons for letting the central defender go out on loan to the League One side. He said:

“We need to free up some funds to try and mix things up. There have been one or two people bemused by it but we have actually got more centre-halfs so it was easy to make that up and we may well look at maybe letting someone else go out on loan as we have spent our budget so need to maybe try and be creative exactly like we did last January when we let [Mark] Ridgers go. So when we do that it is just about mixing up and trying to free up some money.

“We’ve been monitoring a boy for the last three or four weeks and unfortunately he got injured last week so we’ll obviously keep our eye on that but then it gives us an opportunity to maybe bring another player in.”

SAINTS came from behind to take a point from a hard fought encounter against Dumbarton. Both teams had chances to win it, but for Saints, who remain winless, it was an improved showing on the outing against Queen of the South, but one still leaving lots of room for improvement.

Saints were dealt a low prior to kick off when Jamie Langfield was ruled out having sustained an injury in the warm-up. Scott Gallacher replaced him in the starting eleven.

Other than the goalkeeping issue there was only one change to the team so comprehensively beaten seven days previous. That change saw Jack Baird replacing Andy Webster who joined a fit again Calum Gallagher on the bench alongside Lawrence Shankland and David Clarkson.

It was a decent enough start from the Buddies who twice inside the opening fifteen-minutes came close. Ryan Hardie spun his marker and fired over in the early exchanges and Gary MacKenzie saw his header from a corner blocked on the line.

In-between these chances the home team had forced Gallacher into action with the keeper saving well from Robert Thomson who then lifted the rebound over. All this after MacKenzie looked to have got away with a poor challenge inside the area.

If this was a warning for what looked like a nervous and fragile Saints defence it was one they failed to take any notice of. With quarter of an hour on the clock Dumbarton broke down the right and when the ball was centred Andy Stirling was all alone front and centre to easily sweep home.

If there were concerns as to the durability and resilience of Saints this weekend they proved unfounded as far from retreating into their shell they went on to boss the remainder of the half. It was more a case of chances to create chances rather than glaring openings, but there was enough on show to keep the travelling fans on side.

Eventually the pressure told with Saints getting parity a little short of the interval. Ryan Hardie nodding home a precision header having been well picked out by Tom Walsh; fitting that the two most dangerous looking players combined.

However there was almost an immediate sucker punch from the Sons. Josh Todd held the ball up, rolled in Joe Thomson who saw his thumping drive blocked by Gallacher to avoid an almost carbon copy of seven days previous when Queen of the South hit back immediately.

Half-Time: Dumbarton 1-1 St Mirren

Staying level ensured Alex Rae was afforded the opportunity to give a very different team talk within the confines of the dressing room at half time. Clearly the message would have been there was enough to suggest we could profit going forward, but to be very wary of being picked off on the counter.

Steven Aitken in the home dressing room would also have had his say and his team started way better after the break. Danny Harvie should have scored when left all alone for a free header six-yards out and the hard to handle Thomson clipped the outside of the woodwork having got in behind the defence onto a long diagonal ball.

By the hour mark it was all Dumbarton with Thomson causing no end of problems for a Saints defence struggling to cope with anything in behind or anything in the air. Gallacher was an increasingly busy figure with one good stop from David Smith causing the keeper to receive prolonged treatment.

For a time it was corner after corner raining down on the Saints goal, but to be fair they coped well with them. Closest Dumbarton came was another header from Harvie.

Alex Rae made changes with Lewis Morgan and Ryan Hardie making way for Calum Gallagher and Lawrence Shankland, but in between them Darren Whyte made his first team debut coming on to replace Kyle Hutton.

Eventually Saints rallied and produced chances of their own. Hardie headed wide when he ought to have done better, John Sutton saw a scuffed effort skid wide of goal with Martin scrambling across his line and the keeper saved well from a Calum Gallagher volley.

The final chance went the way of Dumbarton. Thomson got away from Scott Gallacher, but a combination of the keeper and MacKenzie prevented a certain goal even if the home bench felt it should have been a penalty.

Full-Time: Dumbarton 1-1 St Mirren

Dumbarton: Martin, Pettigrew, J. Thomson, Buchanan, Todd, Gallagher, R. Thomson, Harvie, Barr, Smith (Fleming 72), Stirling (Stanton 81).
Subs Not Used: Stevenson, McCallum, Wright, Kassarate, Ewings (GK).

St Mirren: Gallacher, Naismith, Irvine, MacKenzie, Sutton, Mallan, Hutton (Whyte 80), Baird, Walsh, Morgan (Gallagher 74), Hardie (Shankland 85).
Subs Not Used: Webster, Clarkson, McAllister, Langfield (GK).

Referee: Stephen Finnie.
Assistant Referee: Dougie Potter.
Assistant Referee: Graham Fraser.

Attendance: 1,101.

Star Saint: Saints were shaky defensively at times and Scott Gallacher did well with a few stops, but the award goes to Tom Walsh who set-up the goal and sent over a string of good crosses deserving of better

Match report pictures by Allan Picken – © Allan Picken Photography.

Match Gallery Pictures © John Millar.

It has been confirmed this afternoon that central defender Ben Gordon has gone out on loan to League One side Alloa Athletic until January.

Ben signed for St Mirren for the second time in his career this summer from Livingston and made his debut in the black and white stripes in last weekend’s Ladbrokes Championship match against Queen of the South.

Ben will join the Alloa squad for tomorrow’s match against Queen’s Park.

St Mirren head over the Erskine Bridge tomorrow afternoon for a Ladbrokes Championship match, going head to head with Dumbarton as Saints look to get a win to kick-start their league campaign.

Stevie Aitken’s men from ‘The Rock’ have also had an indifferent start to the season and like Saints are still trying to find their feet in season 2016/17. When Ian Murray moved over to manage St Mirren in May 2015, Aitken took over as manager at Dumbarton and last season he steered The Sons to safety as they held on to eighth place in the Championship.

Aitken made several changes in his squad over the summer as he looked to build a side to continue their stay in the Championship and his recruitment drive has seen him bringing in players who not too long ago were making their mark in Scotland’s top tier. The head turning signing must be that of former Hearts man Ryan Stevenson who was released by Partick Thistle over the summer. The attacking midfielder is no stranger to matches against St Mirren, scoring in his last outing against the Buddies for Thistle in May 2015. Sam Stanton has been brought in on loan from Hibernian, the 22-year-old made his debut in the IRN-BRU Cup loss to Stranraer two weeks ago but sat out last week’s Championship match due to it being against his parent club.

One man St Mirren will be well aware of tomorrow is Garry Fleming. While to date the striker has only scored one goal this season he banged in three against Saints last season, all of them turning out to be match winners. The man leading the goal scoring stakes for The Sons is former St Mirren player Mark Docherty who has bagged three already this term.

After a disappointing Betfred Cup campaign at the start of the season, a 4-3 loss to Dunfermline opened the league season for Dumbarton. The following week a few eyebrows were raised as The Sons won 1-0 against Dundee United then they drew 1-1 the following week against close neighbours Morton at Cappielow. A narrow 1-0 loss against Falkirk was followed by a disappointing exit from the IRN-BRU Cup against Stranraer. Last week it took a Jason Cummings' penalty for The Sons to lose to Hibernian.

St Mirren’s slow start to the season continued last Saturday as they went down 3-1 to Queen of the South at The Paisley 2021 Stadium. Derek Lyle gave the Doonhamers an early lead then Tom Walsh pulled Saints level with an overhead kick just before half-time but the visitors still went into the break a goal up as Lyle added another to his tally. The game was all but sealed ten minutes into the second half when Stephen Dobbie scored his seventh goal of the season.

Saints had a tough time of it against Dumbarton last season with The Sons winning three of the league match-ups between the sides. After Saints suffered a 2-1 loss last August in Paisley they headed over the Erksine Bridge just before Christmas where a Garry Fleming goal put an end to Ian Murray’s reign as St Mirren manager. Under Alex Rae Saints won the next outing between the sides when Lawrence Shankland’s second half strike proved to be the difference maker. The last meeting between Saints and The Sons saw an own goal from Keith Watson and a strike from Garry Fleming cancel out Calum Gallagher’s early opener for Saints at The Cheaper Insurance Direct Stadium.

Saints loss to Queen of the South last week saw them drop to bottom spot in the Championship but they are only two points behind sixth placed Dumbarton so there is still everything to play for in tomorrow’s match-up under the Dumbarton Rock where both sides will be looking to get their season into gear.

The St Mirren Under-20 side will be looking to get back on the winning trail again next week when they head north-east to face their counterparts from Dundee United.

The SPFL Development League fixture between the young Buddies and Terrors on Monday, 19th September will take place at Tannadice Park and it will kick-off at 6:00pm.

For more news on the SPFL Development League click here.

This coming Saturday (17th September), St Mirren head to the Dumbarton Rock to face Dumbarton in a Ladbrokes Championship fixture at The Cheaper Insurance Direct Stadium.

The info on Travel Clubs heading over the Erskine Bridge for the game is as follows:

Cockles Wilson Supporters Bus

We will be leaving at 1:45pm for Dumbarton.

Bus tickets are on sale in The Bankhouse.

Tile Bar Supporters Bus

The Tile Bar bus for Dumbarton will leave Abercorn Street at 1:45pm.

Bus seat tickets are on sale from behind the bar.

North End Travel Club

The bus to Dumbarton will leave the Sneddon at 1:45pm.

Bus tickets available in the Brewers Tap, £5 each.

Chivas Travel Club

The bus will leave the Court Bar at 2:00pm for the game at Dumbarton.

Bus tickets are now on sale from behind the bar.

Additional Information for Travelling Fans

Tomorrow, Saturday 17th September, St.Mirren head over the Erskine Bridge to face Dumbarton in a Ladbrokes Championship match-up.

The gate prices have now been confirmed for the fixture at The Cheaper Insurance Direct Stadium and these are shown above.

The referee tomorrow is Stephen Finnie and he will be assisted by Dougie Potter and Graham Fraser.

For directions to The Cheaper Insurance Direct Stadium click here