Saints made it three games unbeaten in a row after drawing with Ayr United this afternoon, but it arguably should have been a third successive victory.
With the game goalless, the Buddies were awarded a second-half penalty when Jason Naismith charged into the box before being fouled by Paul Cairney. It seemed the perfect way to open the scoring, only for Lawrence Shankland to send his spot-kick wide.
A few minutes later, the gaping wound had salt rubbed into it when Jamie Adams slotted a pass through the middle of the defence and Cairney shot past Scott Gallacher. Adams' afternoon was then brought to a premature end when he was shown a straight red card for sending Kyle McAllister flying as he charged forward.
Saints threw everything at the Honest Men in a bid to find an equaliser and it arrived with 10 minutes left, David Clarkson crossing for fellow sub John Sutton to mark a century of Buddies appearances by heading his side level. It was another of the subs who went closest to grabbing a crucial winner for the hosts, Ryan Hardie's spectacular effort from distance hitting the bar.
Sutton was benched to make way for Stevie Mallan, who was returning from illness, with Andy Webster taking over in defence from the injured Ben Gordon. Ayr stuck with the side that narrowly lost to Dundee United last week, former Buddie Gary Harkins starting in midfield.
He indirectly played a part in Ayr's first chance, his deflected shot winning his side a corner that led to a scramble with Alan Forrest's shot being blocked on the line. Saints quickly broke and won a corner of their own, Gary MacKenzie denied a first Buddies goal when his thumping header was cleared. Lewis Morgan and Kyle Magennis both failed to find the target with efforts from the edge of the box as Saints looked for an early goal.
It almost came in bizarre circumstances. Mallan's long range effort looked to be going well off target but it had taken a deflection, giving the ball some crazy spin that almost saw it drop into the bottom corner. Instead, it went the wrong side of the post, Shankland's shot from the resultant corner posing no problems for keeper Greg Fleming.
It was open stuff with both teams looking dangerous on the counter attack and Ayr should have taken the lead when Robbie Crawford's free-kick was knocked on to the onrushing Scott McKenna, however he somehow managed to rattle the bar rather than burst the net. Webster flicked a Saints corner across goal and beyond the far post and Nicky Devlin had a header saved by Scott Gallacher before Saints came as close as they'd come to scoring. Shankland got the better of his defender and sent a low shot beyond Fleming but also the far post.
Half Time: St Mirren 0-0 Ayr United
The second half was a slow burner but came to life just before the hour mark. First of all, Ayr were unlucky not to take the lead as they picked their way through the Saints back-line before Gallacher reacted brilliantly to deny Harkins. Then, as the Buddies attacked, some tremendous passing play got Naismith in behind the defence but just as he was about to shoot he was clipped by Paul Cairney. Ref Greg Aitken had no hesitation in pointing to the spot before booking Cairney and the responsibility fell on Shankland to convert the spot-kick. Unfortunately he couldn't, slotting his penalty the wrong side of the post to the horror of the home fans.
And things were soon to get a whole lot worse for the Buddies. Jamie Adams' pass sliced straight through the middle of the Saints defence and found Cairney, who completed his redemption by side-footing past Gallacher to put the visitors in front. Not for the first time at home in the last few months, Saints suddenly found themselves chasing an equaliser having looked the more likely side to opener.
Mallan burst forward to the edge of the box only to waste a glorious chance by shooting wide, then McAllister drew a tremendous save from Fleming, the keeper tipping the youngster's long range shot round the post. Next time he had the ball McAllister charged forward like a man possessed until his run was cynically and brutally brought to an abrupt end by Adams. Once again Mr Aitken didn't waste any time and instantly sent the Ayr man off, much to the ire of his team-mates although his manager Ian McCall later admitted it was probably the correct decision.
Saints could sense blood and, with John Sutton and David Clarkson already on, threw Ryan Hardie into the mix. The change in system had the desired effect almost immediately as Clarkson swung in a cross from the right and Sutton stooped down to head the ball past Fleming. It was the striker's 100th appearance for Saints and it seemed appropriate he mark it with the sort of goal he's scored numerous times before.
Having got level, the Buddies went in search of a winner, Hardie clipping the bar with a long ranger that took a touch off an Ayr man on its way. However, with Saints pushing they left themselves exposed at the back and as the defence screamed for offside, sub Kevin Nisbet tried to take advantage to drag his shot wide of the far post. Saints' best chances were falling to Mallan and it looked like he'd repeated his trick from Queen of the South game, except this time his long range shot was just the wrong side of the post. Deep in stoppage time the Buddies won a corner but Sutton's header was easily dealt with by Fleming as the two sides had to settle for a draw that did neither side much good.
Full Time: St Mirren 1-1 Ayr United
St Mirren: Gallacher, Naismith, Webster (Hardie, 79), MacKenzie, Irvine, Quinn (Sutton, 60), Magennis, Mallan, Morgan, McAllister, Shankland (Clarkson, 69)
Subs Not Used: Langfield, Baird, Gallagher, McLear
Ayr United: Fleming, Devlin, Crawford, Forrest (Nesbit, 72), Harkins (Rose, 79), Cairney, Adams, Meggatt (Boyle, 70) Balatoni, Docherty, McKenna
Subs Not Used: Hart, McGuffie, Gilmour, O'Connell
Referee: Greg Aitken
Assistant Referee: Douglas Ross
Assistant Referee: Willie Ferguson
Attendance: 3,124
Match report and gallery pictures by Allan Picken – © Allan Picken Photography and John Millar - © millarpictures
