Jon Obika's first goal of the season was enough to give St Mirren a second win from three at the start of the 2020/21 season.

The forward's first-half effort secured a 1-0 win for Jim Goodwin's men at the Foys Stadium. 

Saints started brightly winning a corner inside the first 60 seconds. It was Joe Shaughnessy who met the resultant corner with Accies goalkeeper Ryan Fulton doing well to turn away. 

Accies then threatened with David Templeton testing Jak Alnwick on four minutes before Scott Martin's deflected shot fell into the path of David Moyo on 10 minutes but the striker's effort was held at the second attempt by the Saints goalkeeper. 

Shaughnessy went close again on 15 minutes with the Hamilton defence just managing to clear his effort from a corner.

Saints took the lead four minutes later when Obika scored his first goal since the final game of last season. The Hamilton defence couldn't clear a ball into their box and it fell kindly to Richard Tait at the far right hand of the Hamilton box. The defender sent the ball low across to find Obika who touched home to get off the mark for the season.

Saints were well in control at this point and could have found a second when Kyle McAllister's strike from the left-hand side was deflected just wide of Fulton's left-hand post before ex-Saint Lee Hodson's vital interception denied the St Mirren number 10 again. McAllister's powerful left-footed effort looking primed for the bottom corner of the Hamilton net but Hodson's touch managed to divert. 

Fulton made a brilliant save to deny the Buddies a second on 35 minutes. Junior Morias' initial attempt from the edge of the area was blocked by Hakeem Odoffin but fell to the forward again who shifted his feet and cracked a strike towards the top corner with Fulton at full stretch to touch over.  

Morias should have made it two just three minutes to half-time. Marcus Fraser played a brilliant low ball into the feet of the unmarked striker but he scooped over. 

Hamilton started the stronger after the break with Alnwick having to make a terrific save less than a minute after the restart to deny Ross Callachan. The Accies midfielder had another good chance moments later but screwed wide from close range.

Alnwick again made good stops with his feet to deny Andy Winter and Scott McMann in the 66th and 77th minute as the home side pushed for a leveller. 

Saints had struggled to get a foothold in the second-half but could have wrapped the game up with 12 minutes to go. Morias found substitute Ilkay Durmus with a lovely pass but Fulton was down quickly to hold the Turkish winger's low drive. 

Durmus had another strike which he sent into the arms of the Hamilton goalkeeper as the game entered it's final minute, but Obika's first-half strike proved to be enough to see all three points return to Paisley. 

Full-Time: Hamilton Academical 0-1 St Mirren

St Mirren: Alnwick, Fraser, Foley (c), Shaughnessy, Tait, MacPherson, Sheron, McGrath, K.McAllister (Durmus 61), Morias, Obika
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Urminsky, Baird, Erhahon, Henderson, Thorvaldsson, Jack, Jamieson

Hamilton: Fulton, Odoffin, McMann (c), Martin, Hodson, Templeton, Callachan (Mimnaugh 81), L.Smith (Johnson 55), Want, Winter, Moyo (Ogkmpoe 55)
Subs Not Used: Gourlay, Hamilton,Trafford, Fjorttoft, Munro, C.Smith

Referee: Steven Kirkland
Assistant Referee: Frank Connor
Assistant Referee: Graham McNeillie
Fourth Official: Don Robertson

St Mirren were beaten by Rangers on match day two of the Scottish Premiership.

A Conor McCarthy own-goal gave Rangers a first-half lead before an Alfredo Morelos double rounded off the win for the Ibrox side.

Steven Gerrard's side were on the ascendancy from the off with Ianis Hagi having a good opportunity inside the first five minutes when the ball fell to the Romanian just eight yards from goal. But the forward shot into the ground which took the sting out of it for Jak Alnwick. 

The Saints goalkeeper would have a busy first-half saving a low effort from Morelos on 12 minutes before having to gather an Aribo strike two minutes later. 

Rangers pressure told when they took the lead on 23 minutes. It was unfortunate for defender McCarthy who could do nothing as Morelos' ball across the box cannoned off him and into the Saints net.  

The home side pushed for a second before the interval with Alnwick saving well from James Tavernier twice, while Ryan Kent lashed a fierce shot just by the right-hand post.

Saints started the second-half brightly and may feel aggrieved not to have been awarded a penalty when Jamie McGrath appeared to have been fouled inside the Rangers box. The midfielder's foot was inside the area when he was brought down but referee Andrew Dallas awarded a free-kick. Durmus stepped up to take the free-kick but Gers goalkeeper McLaughlin was level to it.

Rangers doubled their advantage with a little over 20 minutes remaining. Morelos, who had already gone close twice in the second-half, somehow found himself free in the Saints box to head home a corner from the right-hand side. 

Morelos rounded off the win for Rangers when he scored his second and Rangers third on 74 minutes. Borna Barisic burst into the Saints box but had his shot blocked by Alnwick only for it to fall to Morelos two yards from goal to knock home.

Full-Time: Rangers 3-0 St Mirren 

St Mirren: Alnwick, Fraser, McCarthy, Shaughnessy, Tait, McGrath, Foley (Erhahon 85), MacPherson (Jamieson 85), Sheron (Morias 74), Durmus (McAllister 78), Obika (Thorvaldsson 85)
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Baird, Henderson, Jack

Rangers: McLaughlin, Tavernier, Goldson, Balogun, Barisic (Bassey 79), Kamara, Jack (Davis 74), Aribo (Arfield 74), Hagi, Kent (Barker 79), Morelos (Itten 74)
Subs Not Used: Firth, Helander, Patterson, Jones

Referee: Andrew Dallas
Assistant Referee: Douglas Ross
Assistant Referee: Graeme Leslie
Fourth Official: Gavin Duncan

Richard Tait's debut goal secured an opening day win for St Mirren as football returned to St Mirren Park.

The full-back's header was enough for Saints, in competitive action for the first time since a 1-0 win over Hearts in March, to pick up all three points in Paisley.

The win means that the Buddies have won there last three home matches on opening day and extended our unbeaten run at home in the league to six matches.

There was very little of note in the opening stages with it taking until 20 minutes for either side to register any real opportunity with Livingston's Efe Ambrose having an effort from the edge of the area held by Jak Alnwick.

Saints took the lead with their first real opportunity on the half-hour mark. Jamie McGrath swung the most inviting ball into the box allowing Richard Tait, who had ghosted into the box, to bullet home a header from six yards out.

With a little over five minutes of the first-half remaining, Craig Sibbald cracked the Saints post with a powerful hit from range.  

Livingston started the second-half strongly with Alnwick getting the slightest touch on an Alan Forrest effort after the Livi winger had jinxed his way into the Saints box.

Nicky Devlin should have done better for the visitors six minutes later when he stuck a free header from close range over the bar. 

Ambrose had a shot from the edge of the area deflected over with Joe Shaughnessy, a colossus at the back on his Saints debut, clearing the resultant corner. 

Substitute Junior Morias should have wrapped the game up with eight minutes remaining. The forward was unmarked 10 yards from goal as he met an Jon Obika header but he smashed off the post. 

Again Saints could have put the seal on the points when Shaughnessy rose well to meet a pinpoint Cammy MacPherson cross but nodded wide.

Scott Pittman came close to an injury-time equaliser for the visitors with a strike from the edge of the box, but as they had done the whole match, the Saints defence stood up to block to secure a well earned three points and a much deserved clean sheet. 

Full-Time: St Mirren 1-0 Livingston 

St Mirren: Alnwick, Fraser, McCarthy, Shaughnessy, Tait, McGrath, Foley, MacPherson, McAllister (Morias 61), Obika, Durmus (Thorvaldsson 76)
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Urminsky, Baird, Erhahon, Henderson, Jamieson, Jack

Livingston: McCrorie, Devlin, Fitzwater, Taylor-Sinclair (Souda 83), Guthrie, Ambrose, Bartley, Pittman, Sibbald (Robinson 68), Forrest (Kouider-Aissa 61), Dykes
Subs Not Used: Stryjek, Crawford, McMillan, Tiffoney, Hamilton, Pignatiello

Referee: Don Robertson
Assistant Referee: Alan Mulvanny
Assistant Referee: Kylie McMullan
Fourth Official: David Munro

St Mirren moved up to ninth in the Ladbrokes Premiership and six points away from bottom after a deserved 1-0 win over Hearts at the Simple Digital Arena.

Jon Obika's 12th goal of the season at the beginning of the second-half was enough to secure an important three points for Jim Goodwin's men.

The Buddies started with intent with Akin Famewo knocking just wide after swinging his foot at a Cammy MacPherson corner in the fourth minute. 

Sam Foley almost grabbed the opener on 10 minutes after good work from Alex Jakubiak on the right saw the striker cut the ball back across the box. The Hearts defence couldn't deal with the danger and sent it as far as Foley who put his effort over.

Four minutes later it was Ilkay Durmus who almost opened the scoring after strong play down the left-hand side. The winger knocked the ball beyond a Hearts defender and swung a cross in from the byline that almost caught out Jambos goalkeeper Zdenek Zlamal who had to tip over. From the resultant corner Loic Damour did well to block as he denied Calum Waters' goal-bound piledriver from 20 yards.  

Still Saints pressed for the first goal and could have had it on 23 minutes had Obika got anything on a wonderful Ross Wallace cross.

Hearts had their first real opportunity on 25 minutes when Aaron Hickey had a go from distance but Vaclav Hladky was down well to gather. A minute later Sean Clare managed to get his head onto a Michael Smith cross from the right but nodded well over. 

Saints were dealt a major blow at the half-hour mark when Conor McCarthy went down near the half-way line clutching his left hamstring. The defender initially looked like he may have been okay to continue after returning to his feet but again went down and had to be replaced by Jamie McGrath with Sam Foley moving into centre-half.

The Buddies almost had the lead with five minutes of the first-half remaining. Jakubiak's cut-back found its way to the oncoming MacPherson who smashed towards goal only for Zlamal to somehow block and send over. The resultant corner eventually found its way to Durmus at the far end of the box but the Turkish winger put it just over.

Hearts made a change at the break with Daniel Stendel bringing on Liam Boyce in place of Clare. But it was Saints who started the brighter and had their reward on 48 minutes as Obika netted the opener. Wallace intercepted the ball deep in the St Mirren half and sent a sensational long ball forward that found a galloping Obika as he burst through on goal. The forward did so well to hold off challenges from Clevid Dikamona and Craig Halkett before slotting beyond Zlamal for his 12th goal of the season and his seventh of 2020.

The Buddies almost grabbed a second quickly after with Zlamal having to deny Jakubiak. McGrath picked the ball up in middle of the park, knocking beyond Dikamona and Hickey, before sliding through to Jakubiak whose low drive across the face was touched wide by the Jambos goalkeeper Zlamal.

The Buddies were forced into another change on 55 minutes when MacPherson pulled up and had to be seen by the physio. The midfielder had to be replaced by Tony Andreu.

As if Saints luck with injuries wasn't bad enough, Jim Goodwin was forced into a third substitution on 70 minutes when Durmus had to come off.

As was probably expected in the final throes of the match, Hearts were having most of the pressure but were failing to create anything. But with 10 minutes to go, the Jambos had a glorious chance to find an equaliser when Smith rolled a low ball across the face of the Saints box where it fell kindly for Lewis Moore. It looked like Moore would slide home from close-range but it came off his knee and behind for a goal kick.

With six additional minutes to be played, St Mirren had a great opportunity to kill the game off on the counter only for Jakubiak's attempted pass to Obika being cut out by the Hearts defence.

In the final seconds Hearts sent goalkeeper Zlamal up for a corner but the delivery was poor allowing the Saints defence to clear with referee Alan Muir blowing his whistle to signal the end of the match and what could prove to be a massive three points for Jim Goodwin's men.

Full-Time: St Mirren 1-0 Hearts

St Mirren: Hladky, Hodson, McCarthy (McGrath 31), Famewo, Waters, Wallace, MacPherson (Andreu 55), Foley (c), Durmus (McAllister 70), Obika, Jakubiak
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Morias, Mullen, Chabbi

Hearts: Zlamal, Smith, Halkett, Dikamona, Hickey, Clare, Damour (Meshino 74), Moore, Bozanic (Irving 60), Naismith (c), Washington
Subs Not Used: Pereira, Walker, Langer, Henderson

Referee: Alan Muir
Assistant Referee: Graham Chambers
Assistant Referee: Joseph Lawson
Fourth Official: Kevin Graham

Attendance: 5,662 

St Mirren were handed just a third league defeat in 2020 as the Buddies were beaten 5-0 by league leaders Celtic. 

Leigh Griffiths scored twice in the first-half to have the Hoops in control at the break. Odsonne Edouard added a third for Celtic nine minutes into the second-half before Griffiths nabbed his hat-trick with 16 minutes remaining. Callum McGregor rounded off a poor afternoon for Saints when he netted from the penalty spot in the final minute.

Jim Goodwin made three changes to the side the drew 0-0 with St Johnstone on Wednesday night. Cammy MacPherson, Tony Andreu and Junior Morias were brought in in place of Ross Wallace, Ilkay Durmus and Alex Jakubiak.

Celtic enjoyed the lions share of possession as was probably to be expected but Saints looked to make any opportunities count in the early goings. With eight minutes played Calum Waters did brilliantly down the left-side before sliding the ball across the box. It had looked primed to fall to the feet of Morias, but somehow missed the forward who would have had a brilliant chance to put the Buddies 1-0 in front had it fallen to him. 

MacPherson forced Fraser Forster into a save on 14 minutes with a free-kick from 25 yards. The midfielder got the ball over the wall and creeping in towards the goalkeeper's left-hand post but the Englishman was down quickly to gather. 

Four minutes later Celtic would open the scoring through Griffiths. From just inside the box on the left-hand side, Edouard clipped the ball over the Saints defence to meet Leigh Griffiths who swept home from close range. It was a cheap goal to give away with the Celtic forward completely unmarked at the back post as he put the home side ahead.

The Hoops could have doubled their lead just two minutes later with Vaclav Hladky making a tremendous double save to keep Edouard and James Forrest at bay. Hladky was being made to work by Celtic and the Czech goalkeeper again denied Forrest on 27 minutes, holding the winger's curling shot from the edge of the area.

Saints were still very much in the match at this point, thanks to Hladky, and more good work from Waters saw the left-back knock the ball beyond Forrest allowing him to charge into the penalty area only for his ball across to be cleared by the Celtic defence. A few minutes later, Tony Andreu had a dig from 20 yards but his effort was easy enough for Forster to hold.

Hladky again kept Celtic out when he got two hands to a Tom Rogic strike from 18 yards.  

With the game ebbing towards half-time Griffiths added his and Celtic's second on 44 minutes. The forward dribbled his way through the Saints defence, exchanging a one-two with Rogic before sliding the ball beyond Hladky to double his and Celtic's tally.

Celtic stretched their lead further just nine minutes into the second-half when Edouard added his name to the score-sheet. 

St Mirren looked to pull a goal back with Andreu curling into the arms of Forster on 56 minutes, while Obika sent an effort just wide seven minutes later. 

But with 16 minutes remaining it was Celtic who would stretch their lead further. Griffiths grabbed his hat-trick as he slammed home from the edge of the box.

Celtic put the icing on the cake in the final minute when Callum McGregor netted from the penalty spot after Sam Foley had brought down Hatem Elhamed. 

Up next for Saints is a vital home match as the Buddies face bottom side Hearts at the Simple Digital Arena on Wednesday night.

Full-Time: Celtic 5-0 St Mirren

St Mirren: Hladky, Hodson, McCarthy, Foley, Famewo, Waters, MacPherson, McGrath (McAllister 74), Andreu, Morias (Jakubiak 63), Obika (Chabbi 69)
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Wallace, Durmus, Mullen

Celtic: Forster, Jullien, Bitton, Ajer (Elhamed 81), Forrest, Brown (c), Rogic (Christie 73), McGregor, Taylor, Edouard (Elyounoussi 76), Griffiths
Subs Not Used: Gordon, Frimpong, Hayes, Bayo

Referee: Gavin Duncan
Assistant Referee: Frank Connor
Assistant Referee: Calum Spence
Fourth Official: Euan Anderson

Attendance: 58,998

Gallery pictures by Allan Picken © - Allan Picken Photography

St Mirren picked up what could be a crucial point after a 0-0 draw with 10 man St Johnstone at the Simple Digital Arena.

The Buddies will be frustrated they didn't pick up all three points in the battle of the Saints, especially with Hamilton Academical and Hearts both picking up midweek wins.

Alex Jakubiak caused the St Johnstone defence trouble in the opening 15 minutes. His first was a shot from outside the box. The striker then went on two driving runs, wining corners on both occasions.

The hosts very nearly came close to opening the scoring when Jon Obika clipped the inside of Zander Clark’s post and trickling along the goal line but there were no black and white shirts to tap it in.

The first chance of the second half fell the way of the visitors. Anthony Ralston broke forward and received the ball inside the Buddies’ box but Hladky was there to make the save. Jakubiak had another chance to break the deadlock. He twisted and turned his way into the St Johnstone box bit is shot was straight at the keeper.

The game sparked into life for the last 15 minutes. Drey Wright played an inviting ball into the box but Lee Hodson was there to put the ball out for a corner. Jason Kerr hit the crossbar from the resulting corner.

St Johnstone then went down to ten men as Liam Craig was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Tony Andreu.

Jamie McGrath delivered a good cross from a wide area and substitute, Seifedin Chabbi, saw his header go agonisingly past the post.

Jon Obika had a terrific chance to grab a late winner. He held the ball up strongly in the box before turning and getting a shot away but Clark had to dive low to his left hand side to tip it round the post.

The Buddies threw everything they had at St Johnstone for the entire five minutes of stoppage time but the Buddies were unable to find a way through the wall of defenders. 

Full-Time: St Mirren 0-0 St Johnstone

St Mirren: Hladky, Hodson, McCarthy, Famewo, Waters, McGrath, Foley (c), Wallace (Chabbi 84), Durmus (Morias 75), Jakubiak (Andreu 67), Obika
Subs Not Used: Lyness, MacPherson, McAllister, Mullen

St Johnstone: Clark, Ralston, Kerr (c), McCart, Booth, Wright, McCann, Craig, Wotherspoon (O'Halloran 65), Kane (Butcher 83), May (Swanson 75)
Subs Not Used: Parish, Gordon, Holt, Tanser 

Referee: Euan Anderson
Assistant Referee: Drew Kirkland
Assistant Referee: Gordon Crawfored
Fourth Official: Steven Reid

Attendance: 4,287

Gallery pictures by Allan Picken © - Allan Picken Photography

Saints' hopes of a trip to Hampden and Scottish Cup glory came to an end when they lost to Aberdeen.

It was a pretty forgettable 90 minutes, one of the few moments of genuine quality producing an early goal as Lewis Ferguson scored a tremendous strike with the outside of his foot. Curtis Main thought he'd headed his side further in front after the break but it was ruled out for offside before Sam Cosgrove sealed victory with a late penalty on a disappointing evening for Saints fans and neutrals watching at home on BBC Scotland.

Saints with the side that secured a late win at Fir Park on Tuesday night, the in-form Jon Obika once again being partnered by Alex Jakubiak. Main led the Aberdeen attack with the prolific Cosgrove only on the bench.

The big forward headed wide from Dean Campbell's free-kick before the Dons took an early lead. Matty Kennedy's through ball found Ferguson at the edge of the box and he used the outside of his boot to produce a wonderful finish that Vaclav Hladky had no chance of stopping.

Anyone hoping that early flurry of excitement was to be the start of an exciting cup tie similar to Saints' defeat of Motherwell in the previous round was to be left sorely disappointed as both sides found it difficult to get going. While not entirely to blame, the wind and rain also wasn't doing anybody any favours - although it did nearly help Lee Hodson's cross loop into the net. The fullback's next cross forced a corner which Akin Famewo headed well wide.

There was some relief at the other end when Hladky failed to hold a Kennedy free-kick before his defence bailed him out – only fair since the goalie has done similar for his team-mates so often during his time with the club. There looked to be more trouble when Niall McGinn won the ball from Cammy MacPherson and bore down on goal, however ref Don Robertson felt the Saints youngster had been barged aside and gave a foul. In the final minute of a dire half MacPherson's free-kick caused problems in the Aberdeen box but Conor McCarthy couldn't quite dig the ball out from under his feet and Joe Lewis was able to gather it.

Jakubiak was replaced by Kyle McAllister at the break as Saints looked for an equaliser, an Obika header being turned behind for a corner. McAllister tried to thread the ball through for the striker but Lewis was able to gather it, however in attempting to keep pace with Obika Scott McKenna had pulled a muscle and had to be replaced by Mikey Devlin.

That blow didn't seem to disrupt the Dons too much and they looked to have doubled their lead when Main stooped to head Kennedy's cross past Hladky, however the flag was up for offside. The visitors seemed happy to sit deep and let Saints have plenty of possession but they didn't look too penetrating with it, a rare chance coming when Jamie McGrath stung the palms of Lewis from long range.

In a bid to change things, Saints boss Jim Goodwin handed Seifedin Chabbi his much anticipated Saints debut at the expense of MacPherson with Tony Andreu then coming on for Ilkay Durmus. Chabbi just failed to get onto the end of a McAllister cross, while Main didn't get quite enough on the end of a teasing delivery from McGinn. The striker was replaced by Craig Bryson before Cosgrove – who'd early replaced Campbell – found himself in a great position to finish the game off but could only fire wide.

It didn't matter as he made amends in stoppage time. As Cosgrove burst into the box, he was pushed by Saints skipper Foley and Mr Robertson wasted little time in pointing to the spot. Hladky may have a great record at saving penalties and he did guess correctly, however Cosgrove slotted it right into the bottom corner to seal his side's progress to the semi-finals.

Full-Time: St Mirren 0-2 Aberdeen

St Mirren: Hladky, Hodson, McCarthy, Famewo, Waters, McGrath, Foley (c), MacPherson (Chabbi 72), Durmus (Andreu 83), Jakubiak (McAllister 45), Obika
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Wallace, Mullen, Morias

Aberdeen: Lewis, Logan, Taylor, McKenna (Devlin 52), Considine, Ojo, Campbell (Cosgrove 74), Ferguson, Kennedy, McGinn, Main (Bryson 87)
Subs Not Used: Cerny, McGeouch, Anderson, Hernandez

Referee: Don Robertson
Assistant Referee: Graeme Stewart
Assistant Referee: Kylie Cockburn
Fourth Official: John McKendrick

Attendance: 4,479

Gallery pictures by Allan Picken © - Allan Picken Photography

St Mirren struck late through Ilkay Durmus to grab an important three points in the Ladbrokes Premiership as the Buddies came from behind to defeat Motherwell at Fir Park.

Liam Donnelly opened the scoring early on from the penalty spot, but second-half goals from Jon Obika and Durmus saw the Saints take all three points back to Paisley.

The home side started the brighter with on-loan winger Rolando Aarons caused the Buddies problems down the right side. Aarons had the first real opportunity of the match when he smashed wide after finding space inside the box on seven minutes.

And it was the winger's trickery that would see Motherwell win a penalty on 12 minutes after being was brought down by Akin Famewo inside the area after trying to break clear. Referee David Munro pointed to the spot and Liam Donnelly, who missed during last week's penalty shoot-out, made no mistake from 12 yards to give the home side the lead.

Saints almost found an instant response less than two minutes later. Good work from Jamie McGrath in the midfield saw the Irishman switch it wide to Durmus. The left-winger burst into the Motherwell area and fizzed a powerful, dipping drive just inches over the bar. 

Vaclav Hladky was called into action on 18 minutes as he made a brilliant double save to keep the scoreline down. Motherwell were awarded a free-kick on the right hand touchline after Calum Waters was booked for a foul on Aarons. 'Well swung the ball into the back post where it met the head of Declan Gallagher with Hladky down low to push away. The danger wasn't cleared though allowing Tony Watt an opportunity with the Czech goalkeeper blocking from close range.

A couple of dangerous looking balls across the box from Durmus caused panic inside the Motherwell box and yielded a couple of corners but the Saints failed to capitalise from any of them. 

It was still the home side who were creating more clear cut chances in the first-half with Hladky having to do well to save from Watt, before a long-range Liam Polworth drive looked like it may have nestled in the back of the net after a wicked deflection. 

A disappointing first-half came to a close with Motherwell only having one goal to show for their efforts. 

Saints showed more intent after the break and found themselves level on 50 minutes. Lee Hodson did brilliantly well on the right-hand side to turn the Motherwell defence inside out before sending a tremendous low ball across the face of goal where Obika finished from close range. 

The Buddies almost doubled their lead a few minutes later with Motherwell goalkeeper Mark Gillespie making a terrific diving save to claw away Durmus' low drive from 20 yards. 

For all the opportunities Motherwell created in the first 45 minutes, they failed to create anything to really trouble Hladky in the second-half with only a Watt header with less than 10 minutes to go forcing the goalkeeper to make a save and even then it was straight at him.

With 87 minutes on the clock Saints would finish a winner with Durmus showing great composure to put St Mirren into the lead. Substitute Tony Andreu swung the ball into the box where it drifted to the left side to meet an unmarked Durmus. The Turkish winger took a touch to steady himself before slamming high into the top corner to send the 600 strong travelling support wild.

Junior Morias could have added the icing on the cake in the dying embers as he shot wide from 15 yards, but in the end it didn't matter as Durmus' strike sealed a first league win of 2020 for Jim Goodwin's men who closed the gap on ninth placed Ross County to four points. 

Full-Time: Motherwell 1-2 St Mirren

St Mirren: Hladky, Hodson, McCarthy, Famewo, Waters, McGrath (Wallace 75), MacPherson, Foley, Durmus, Jakubiak (Andreu 71), Obika (Morias 90)
Subs Not Used: Lyness, K.McAllister, Mullen, Chabbi

Motherwell: Gillespie, Tait, Hartley, Gallagher, Donnelly, Campbell (Turnbull 71), O'Hara (MacIver 56), Polworth, Aarons, Hylton (Seedorf 83), Watt
Subs Not Used: Carson, Grimshaw, Mugabi, Ilic

Referee: David Munro
Assistant Referee: David Roome
Assistant Referee: Stuart Hodge
Fourth Official: David Dickinson

Attendance: 3,636 (601 St Mirren fans)

Gallery pictures by Allan Picken © - Allan Picken Photography

St Mirren progressed to the quarter-finals of the William Hill Scottish Cup with a dramatic penalty shoot-out win over Motherwell at Fir Park.

An incredible first-half performance saw the Buddies deservedly 4-1 ahead at the interval and all but through to the last eight. 

Unbelievably, Motherwell scored three goals in 17 second-half minutes to take the game to extra-time and ultimately penalties. 

Jamie McGrath, Kyle McAllister and Jon Obika all netted from 12 yards while Motherwell's Liam Donnelly had his saved by Vaclav Hladky with Tony Watt and Jermaine Hylton also missing to see Saints set up a last eight clash with either Aberdeen or Kilmarnock who face each other tomorrow night.

Jim Goodwin's side started on the front foot and took the lead on 14 minutes when Saints number nine Obika grabbed his ninth goal of the season. Cammy MacPherson fed the ball out to the left to Ilkay Durmus who whipped in a stunning ball to meet Obika with the forward getting in between the Motherwell central defence to sweep home from close range.

Saints could have added a second 10 minutes later through Jamie McGrath. Alex Jakubiak did brilliantly to hold off two Motherwell players deep in the Well half. He slid a beautiful ball through to the Irishman who beat the offside trap but smashed at Well goalkeeper Mark Gillespie from a tight angle. 

And just three minutes afterwards Motherwell found themselves level. An Allan Campbell shot from the edge of the St Mirren box was deflected by for a corner. Liam Polworth took but the Saints defence could only clear as far as the midfielder who was allowing to cut into the box before slamming a low drive beyond Vaclav Hladky to level. 

The game would turn on its head again when the Buddies would score two goals in two minutes just after the half-hour mark. Obika scored his and Saints' second of the game on 31 minutes as the striker once again drifted in ahead of the static Well defence to side-foot home MacPherson's free-kick. 

Saints barely had time to celebrate their second before stretching the lead further. Obika did so well on the counter to carry the ball from his own half to the edge of the Motherwell box. His attempt was blocked but fell kindly for stand-in skipper Sam Foley who had bust a gut to match Obika's run. Foley's shot was blocked by the feet of Gillespie but cannoned off Peter Hartley and into the net to make it 3-1. 

Only a super stop from Gillespie denied St Mirren a fourth on 37 minutes when the Steelman goalkeeper got done to brilliant push away McGrath's effort from inside the box. But the fourth would come just before half-time as Foley got himself on the scoresheet. A low Durmus cross was only cleared as far as the midfielder who cut into the box and drilled home from 16 yards out to put St Mirren in dreamland heading into the break.

Motherwell started the second-half the stronger as they looked for a route back into the game and they found a goal 12 minutes into the second-half to make it 4-2 as Tony Watt scored his first for the Steelmen. The striker got the better of Conor McCarthy and Akin Famewo to knock beyond Hladky from close range.

The goal seemed to briefly awake St Mirren after a slow start to the second-half with Obika having a shot from the edge of the box deflected wide, before MacPherson's fizzing long-range effort was pushed away by Gillespie. 

Motherwell were coming closer to a third and hit the post with 20 minutes remaining while Hladky had to make a good save to deny Polworth on the follow-up. 

The warning signs were there for Saints and Motherwell made their pressure pay on 73 minutes when they added a third. Rolando Aarons' low cross from the right evaded everyone and somehow found its way into the back of the Buddies net. 

And then, 60 seconds later, the unthinkable happened as Motherwell drew level. Campbell's attempted cross from the right took a deflection off Foley and sailed over the head of Hladky to make it 4-4. 

The Steelmen continued to have the majority of the pressure as the game ticked towards extra-time with MacIver backheeling wide while a shot was blocked inside the Saints box with just over five minutes left. 

In truth neither side did enough in extra-time to win the match with Durmus curling a free-kick into the arms of Gillespie while Hladky had to be alert to turn behind a Hylton shot at his near post. The Buddies could have snatched it in the final moments when substitute Tony Andreu beat the on-rushing Gillespie to the ball. It fell to Kyle McAllister who lobbed over the stranded goalkeeper only for Liam Donnelly to head off the line. 

After 120 minutes it would take penalties to separate the two. McGrath netted the first for Saints, with Donnelly seeing his penalty saved by Hladky.

Saints failed to make it 2-0 in the shoot-out when Andreu smashed his penalty well over, but Tony Watt missed his penalty as the Buddies maintained their advantage. 

MacPherson, who took the captain's armband following Foley's substitution, also missed from 12 yards as he was denied by Gillespie, while Motherwell levelled as Rolando Aarons scored.

McAllister and Polworth scored their penalties meaning it was 2-2 heading into the fifth penalty. Obika coolly stroked his spot-kick home meaning Hylton had to keep Motherwell in the match. The winger put his penalty over the bar allowing a relieved away support to celebrate.

Saints will now meet the winners of Aberdeen/Kilmarnock at the Simple Digital Arena on Saturday 29th February.

Full-Time: Motherwell 4-4 St Mirren (St Mirren win 3-2 on penalties)

St Mirren: Hladky, Hodson, McCarthy, Famewo, Waters, McGrath, MacPherson, Foley (McAllister 103), Durmus (Andreu 97), Jakubiak (Morias 63), Obika
Subs Not Used: Urminsky, Mullen, Chabbi

Motherwell: Gillespie, Grimshaw (Hylton 62), Hartley (Tait 46), Mugabi (O'Hara 45), Carroll, Campbell, Donnelly, MacIver (Manzinga 102), Polworth, Aarons, Watt
Subs Not Used: Carson, Seedorf, Manzinga, Ilic

Referee: Gavin Duncan
Assistant Referee: David McGeachie
Assistant Referee: David Doig
Fourth Official: Kevin Glancy

Attendance: 4,534 (918 St Mirren fans)

Gallery pictures by Allan Picken © - Allan Picken Photography

St Mirren were consigned to just a second loss in 2020 as the Buddies were beaten 2-1 by Livingston. 

Jim Goodwin made one change to the side that drew 1-1 against Motherwell on Saturday with Junior Morias coming in in place of Jamie McGrath, while Saints were boosted by the news that Lee Hodson had shaken off the injury he suffered in Saturday's Scottish Cup tie.

Both sides had opportunities in the opening couple of minutes of the contest. Jon Obika was a toe away from scoring into an empty net with just three minutes on the clock. The striker looked to latch on to a long ball over the top from Morias. Both Obika and Livingston goalkeeper Robby McCrorie seemed to hesitate before the goalie got in just ahead of the striker to clear. 

Immediately from the clearance it was the home side's turn to attack with Saints having to clear a Jon Guthrie header off the line. Guthrie was involved again ten minutes later when he met a knock-down from Ciaron Brown but hooked over from close range. 

Saints had a great chance to go one-on-one with McCrorie after a quick counter. Alex Jakubiak had peeled away from the defence in acres of space but Obika over-hit the pass sending it straight to the goalkeeper.

And how the Buddies would rue passing up that opportunity when Livingston would take the lead less than two minutes later. Lyndon Dykes went down inside the box under the challenge from Conor McCarthy. It seemed a controversial decision with very little contact appearing to take place between the defender and the striker. But referee David Munro awarded the spot-kick and Steven Lawless made no mistake from 12 yards as he sent Hladky the wrong way to open the scoring. 

That was the difference at the interval and the Buddies couldn't have gotten the second-half off to a worst start if they tried. Despite taking kick-off, the Buddies lost the ball with half-time substitute Keaghan Jacobs finding Lyndon Dykes who ran clear of the Saints defence and slotted home from close range just 20 seconds after the restart.

A difficult task had been made even tougher but the Buddies didn't let the heads go down and pulled a goal back on 50 minutes. A nice passage of play culminated in Cammy MacPherson sliding the ball through to Obika who showed good composure to knock beyond McCrorie to score his eighth goal of the season and half the deficit.

Saints put the pressure on and could have been level two minutes later only for Obika to head just over from inside the box. 

With 30 minutes remaining Hladky was forced into action as he made a brilliant save to keep the scoreline down after Scott Robinson had found himself in the clear. The forward charged into the box but was denied by the Czech goalkeeper's foot. Dykes almost added his second and Livingston's third on 65 minutes when he headed off the post from a corner.

The Buddies continued to search for an equaliser heading into the closing minutes with McCarthy going agonisingly close with a header that was deflected wide. Then, in stoppage time, Calum Waters sent a terrific ball into the box to meet the head of Obika who nodded over. 

Full-Time: Livingston 2-1 St Mirren

St Mirren: Hladky, Hodson, McCarthy, Famewo, Waters, Morias (McAllister 74), MacPherson, Foley (c), Durmus (Mullen 84), Jakubiak (McGrath 79), Obika
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Wallace, Andreu, Cooke

Livingston: McCrorie, McMillan (Lawson 80), Taylor-Sinclair, Brown, Guthrie, Bartley (Jacobs 46), Pittman, Sibbald, Lawless, Robinson (Menga 73), Dykes
Subs Not Used: Schofield, Crawford, Souda, Lamie

Referee: David Munro
Assistant Referee: Graeme Stewart
Assistant Referee: Sean Carr
Fourth Official: Kevin Graham

Attendance: 1,263