Saints and Motherwell will have to do it all again after drawing 1-1 in the Scottish Cup.
Ilkay Durmus hit the post in the first few minutes and Saints had a fair number of chances in the opening 45 minutes yet somehow found themselves behind at the break – Mark O'Hara hammering home after Vaclav Hladky had saved from Chris Long.
The Steelmen were arguably the better side after the interval but Saints drew level when Kyle McAllister teed up Alex Jakubiak to score his first Buddies goal. Both sides had chances to win it after that but in the end had to settle for a replay that both managers could probably do without.
Jakubiak started for the first time since arriving on loan from Watford with Jon Obika back in the side, Tony Andreu and Felipe Morias dropping to the bench. That wasn't the end of the changes with Lee Hodson coming in for the injured Ryan Flynn – although the fullback would end up going off injured himself. New Motherwell signing Tony Watt was among the away side's subs.
The Buddies kicked into the fierce wind in the first half and almost had the lead inside five minutes. Obika intercepted the ball and passed to Sam Foley and he in turn found Durmus who cracked the post from close range. Soon after, Jakubiak outmuscled his man and had a shot saved by Mark Gillespie, although the whistle had already gone for a foul. Rolando Aarons had the first chance for Motherwell as he cut in from the right before seeing his shot parried away by Hladky, while at the other end Obika turned and shot a few yards over from the edge of the box.
The game was fairly open as both sides pushed for an opener, Jermaine Hylton's shot finding Hladky's arms after taking a couple of deflections. A loose pass from Cammy MacPherson then let Aarons in but a tremendous tackle by McCarthy just outside the area stopped the on-loan Newcastle man in his tracks, the large away support behind the goal claiming furiously for a foul. Gillespie dropped Waters' free-kick before blocking Jamie McGrath's go from the follow-up, then Durmus dragged a shot wide after good hold-up play from Jakubiak.
All that was missing from the frantic opening quarter was a goal but Motherwell soon put that right. A break of the ball after a Hodson tackle saw Long clean through and while Hladky did well to save his shot, the ball popped up for O'Hara to thump into the unguarded net and put the Steelmen in front. Long went close to doubling the lead a few minutes later as his shot was juggled up in the air by Hladky before the goalie eventually gathered it.
Saints were desperately unlucky not to draw level when Durmus found Jakubiak with a low cross but his shot was blocked by the legs of Gillespie, a penalty appeal for handball in the aftermath being turned down by ref Andrew Dallas. Obika saw a tame effort deflected into the Motherwell goalie's grasp just before Hladky had to get down to a Long shot behind. Just before the break Saints had another chance when Obika set up but Durmus but his shot was headed away.
The visitors nearly increased their advantage early in the second half as Aarons' cross threatened to dip under the bar before Hladky tipped it over. The second half wasn't quite as end-to-end as the first with chances for both teams few and far between but an opening did come Saints' way when Hodson got to the byline and pulled the ball across ball, Obika unable to reposition himself in time to turn it home. Long sclaffed a shot wide before a great tackle from McCarthy stopped the striker adding his second.
An ambitious shot from MacPherson was always going wide just as Kyle McAllister replaced McGrath – which proved to be an inspired move as he soon created the equaliser. Hodson made use of his time and space to find the winger on the right and when he played it into the box Jakubiak slotted past Gillespie with the help of a deflection.
Liam Donnelly fired narrowly wide from long range as Motherwell looked to go back in front, O'Hara sending a low shot beyond both Hladky and the far post. Saints had been on the back foot since dragging themselves level but showed they weren't done for the day when Durmus stung Gillespie's palms from distance, MacPherson's dipping shot going narrowly over from the resultant corner. It was to be the last real chance for either side, meaning the sides will now meet twice at Fir park within the space of a few days.
Full-Time: St Mirren 1-1 Motherwell
St Mirren: Hladky, Hodson (Morias 81), McCarthy, Famewo, Waters, MacPherson, Foley (c), McGrath (McAllister 69), Durmus, Jakubiak, Obika (Andreu 77)
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Henderson, Cooke, Mullen
Motherwell: Gillespie, Gallagher, Hartley (c), Grimshaw, Carroll, Donnelly, O'Hara (Watt 80), Polworth, Long, Aarons (Campbell 73), Hylton
Subs Not Used: Carson, Tait, Manzinga, Mugabi, Ndjoli
Referee: Andrew Dallas
Assistant Referee: David McGeachie
Assistant Referee: David Doig
Fourth Official: Kevin Glancy
Attendance: 4,232
