After last week's weather bringing the country to a stand-still, St Mirren are back in action as they take on Dunfermline Athletic at the Paisley 2021 Stadium on Saturday.
The Buddies will take on The Pars for the fourth and final time in this Scottish Championship campaign, with the Paisley side having won two out of the previous three meetings. St Mirren currently occupy top spot in the table, while Dunfermline have now fallen out of a play-off position and sit in 5th place, having been in first place earlier in the campaign.
The first meeting of the season was one to forget for the Paisley faithful, as The Saints suffered a disappointing 3-0 defeat at East End Park. First half goals from Declan McManus and David Hopkirk gave the home team a comfortable lead going into the second half, before Callum Morris contributed with the the third goal on 56 minutes to spoil Saints' impressive start to the season. To add insult to injury, St Mirren finished the game with nine men, as Adam Eckersley was given a straight red card for lifting his hands to Aaron Splaine on the 87th minute. Then a minute later Gregor Buchanan was given his second yellow, after hauling Declan McManus to the ground.
Saints gained revenge in December though, when The Pars made their first trip of the season to Paisley and went down 1-0, in a rather controversial game that saw The Saints return to the top of the Championship table. On the eight minute mark Gavin Reilly was brought down just outside the 18-yard box by Dunfermline's goalkeeper Sean Murdoch; but the man between the sticks escaped with just a yellow card, despite Reilly being clear through on goal. The deadlock was broken on 38 minutes though, as Ian McShane's cut back found Cammy Smith with the goal at his mercy, and the number 11 made no mistakes in slotting the ball into the bottom corner.
The Buddies could have doubled their lead just moments before the break, as a killer flick from Lewis Morgan sent Reilly through on goal again. With just the emerging Murdoch to beat, Saints' top goalscorer lifted the ball over the keeper and the crossbar to keep the game at 1-0. The major talking point of the game came in the second half, when Dunfermline's Ryan Williamson went down in the box and referee Craig Charleston awarded a penalty. However, after consulting with his assistant, Charleston overturned his original decision and awarded a freekick to St Mirren instead - to the dismay of The Fifers.
The last meeting between the teams took place at the end of January and was arguably one of the best results Jack Ross' side has had all year. It was a tough fought encounter - in which St Mirren had to dig in to hold on to their 2-1 lead - but the game will now be forever remembered for 'That Goal'. After a tight start to the game, The Buddies managed to produce one of the goals of the season, as the team-goal started from the the defence, as they worked their way through the entire Dunfermline team, before Cammy Smith rounded off the move with a cool finish into the bottom corner. Nicky Clark equalised for the home side not long after the restart, but a clever worked freekick from Kyle Magennis found Jack Baird who restored the lead to 2-1.
The Pars haven't been on the best run of form as of late, having not won a game since 6th January in a 1-0 win over Dumbarton. They have only picked up three points from their last five league games, with the points coming from three 0-0 draws.
St Mirren got back to winning ways two weeks ago, with a 1-0 win over Brechin. With only 10 games now remaining, Jack Ross and his squad will be looking for another strong performance tomorrow, as the push for promotion gets ever closer.
