St Mirren picked up a bonus point following a penalty shoot-out for the third Betfred Cup match in a row.
The Buddies were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw by Queen's Park at Hampden this evening, but a 5-4 sudden death shoot-out win saw Saints claim a bonus point to keep hopes of qualification from Group H alive.
Saints had an early shout for a penalty on seven minutes when burst into the box and looked like he may have been tripped by Gerard McLaughlan, but the referee decided the defender won the ball fairly.
Cole Kpekawa saw a header from a Cammy MacPherson corner gathered by Jordan Hart three minutes later, while a nice ball from Hayden Coulson just evaded Cammy Smith's reach on 24 minutes.
Saints best chance of the first half came on the half hour mark when Danny Mullen forced a save from Hart. Stephen McGinn played a terrific ball over the top that was brought down by Mullen inside the box. The striker's attempt was low but lacked enough power to really trouble Hart in the Queen's goal, though the former Ayr United goalkeeper had to be at full stretch to gather.
The hosts responded and on 33 minutes Craig Samson was made to work when he pushed away a ferocious Jamie McKernon drive from 20 yards. It was struck sweetly by the ex-St Mirren player, with Samson diving across his goal to put it out for a corner. The Saints goalkeeper would be called upon from the corner. Dean Kindlan ghosted in at the back post and saw his effort blocked by Samson before Saints got it clear.
Into the second half, Alan Stubbs made changes with Kyle Magennis making his return to first team action, while Ross Stewart came on in place of Cammy Smith.
Stewart was unlucky not to find himself through on goal after Scott Gibson made a vital intervention to deny the forward the chance to go one-on-one with Hart.
Heading into the final few minutes, Stephen McGinn switched play out to the right where the ball found his brother Paul. Paul kept the ball in play before whipping it into the box to meet the head of Danny Mullen. The striker rose the highest but glanced the effort by the post.
There was one last chance in the match and it was hearts-in-mouth stuff for Saints as a ball across the box found Kurtis Roberts in space. It look like the Spider's player would roll the ball into the net but for a superb block from Cole Kpekawa.
And with that the game went to penalties once again with The Buddies triumphing 5-4 after sudden death.
Full Time: Queen's Park 0-0 St Mirren
St Mirren: Samson, P.McGinn, Kpekawa, Baird, Heaton, Coulson, S. McGinn, MacPherson (Magennis 55), Flynn, Smith (Stewart 67), Mullen
Subs Not Used: Rogers, Kellermann, Erhahon, King, Cooke
Queen's Park: Hart, Lachlan, Summers, McKernon, McLauchlan, Gibson, Roberts, Dean Kindlan (Peters 74), Osadolor (Sharpe 66), Mortimer, Martin (McGrory 71)
Subs Not Used: Nimmo, Grant, Daniel Kindlan, Dunlop
Referee: Nick Walsh
Assistant Referee: David McGeachie
Assistant Referee: Colin McAlpine
Attendance: 1,493
