St Mirren got 2022 off to a winning start as goals from Jay Henderson and Eamonn Brophy saw Saints defeat Dundee United at Tannadice.

It was a first win in 12 for Jim Goodwin's men as they won for the first time since October. 

Saints were dealt an early blow when Kristian Dennis, who was due to start up-front on his own, had to pull out during the warm-up and had to be replaced by Brophy, while Jamie McGrath was left out of the squad. 

But the Buddies started brightly with Greg Kiltie having the first real chance of the match on 10 minutes. The 25-year-old shot from distance but saw his strike beaten away by United goalkeeper Benjamin Siegrist who got both his hands behind the effort. 

Saints good start was rewarded on 15 minutes when Jay Henderson gave Jim Goodwin's men the lead in spectacular fashion. The St Mirren Academy graduate played a lovely one-two with Kiltie before rifling into the top corner from 20 yards to score his first goal for the Buddies. 

Jay Henderson scored his first senior goal in style to put St Mirren ahead (Image: Jeff Holmes)

It looked like birthday boy Kiltie had doubled Saints lead just five minutes later when he drilled low beyond Siegrist, but a late flag from the linesman denied Kiltie a first St Mirren goal. The midfielder was onside and it can only be assumed that the linesman believed that Brophy - who may have been in an offside position - had blocked the view of the United goalkeeper.

Jak Alnwick showed great reactions with around 10 minutes of the half remaining when he kept Charles Dunne's wayward clearance out of the net. Dylan Levitt's ball across from the right was first met by Charlie Mulgrew before Dunne swiped a foot at it which took it goalward. The Saints goalkeeper threw both hands at it to push away with the Buddies manage to get it clear.

Saints claims for a penalty were denied in the final minute of the first-half when Kiltie went down under a challenge from Jeandro Fuchs with referee Alan Muir unmoved. 

After a good opening 45 for the Buddies, it was the home side who started the second-half the stronger of the two. Alnwick was a full stretch early after the restart to push away a Mulgrew free-kick from 25 yards. 

Alnwick again did well to deny Mulgrew on 55 minutes when he saved from close-range to keep the Buddies ahead. Saints were given a let-off when United were denied a penalty after the ball appeared to strike the arm of Alan Power in the box.

After handling the United pressure, the Buddies doubled their lead on the hour mark when Brophy scored his sixth goal of the season from close-range. The striker was laid it on a plate when Kiltie rolled the ball across the face of goal for Brophy to knock into the net. 

Eamonn Brophy doubled Saints lead (Image: Jeff Holmes)

United pulled a goal back on 73 minutes when Power scored an own-goal as he turned substitute Kieran Freeman's low cross beyond Alnwick.

The momentum was with the home side as they searched for an equaliser. Alnwick made a terrific stop all full stretch to turn Freeman's effort away while Mulgrew sent an effort just over from 35 yards out in the closing minutes. But Saints saw it out to ensure all three points head back to Paisley.

Full-Time: Dundee United 1-2 St Mirren

St Mirren: Alnwick, Fraser, Shaughnessy (c), Dunne, Tanser, Power, Erhahon, Henderson (McAllister 90), Kiltie (Greive 88), Ronan, Brophy (Flynn 83)
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Urminsky, Tait, Millar, Erwin

Dundee United: Siegrist, Mulgrew, Neilson (Freeman 68), Edwards (c), McMann, Fuchs (Clark 68), Levitt, Harkes, Niskanen (Watt 59), Pawlett (Glass 82), McNulty
Subs Not Used: Eriksson, Sporle, Butcher, Mochrie, Appere

Referee: Alan Muir
Assistant Referee: David Roome
Assistant Referee: David Doig
Fourth Official: Grant Irvine

St Mirren Football Club is delighted to announce the signing of Alex Greive from Birkenhead United subject to international clearance.

The 22-year-old forward joins the club on an 18-month deal from the New Zealand side with whom we announced a strategic partnership with last year.

Alex was a part of the New Zealand Olympic Provisional squad for the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games and scored 25 goals in 33 games in 2021 – including three hat-tricks in a row.

His performances last year earned him a place in the ISPS Handa Men’s Premiership Team of the Season as well as being named the regional MVP (Northern League) in the New Zealand National League.

Saints manager Jim Goodwin said: "We are delighted to have another addition to the squad at the top end of the pitch.

Alex is one we have been working with for the last wee while but couldn't get him registered until the January window opened up.

"He's brings creativity, he's a little bit different to some of the other strikers we have at the moment, he's quite dynamic and he's a decent footballer so we're excited to have him involved. 

"He's a very good professional. He's looked very sharp in training and I think he's surprised one or two.

"With the extra couple of squad members we can include in the match day squad, Alex might find himself involved tonight."

Following the Scottish Government announcement last week regarding the return of fans to stadiums, the club would like to update supporters on what will be required at matches going forward. 

Please note that supporters will need to provide evidence of the below on approach to turnstiles and will need to be turned away if not meeting one of the three options below:

• Be fully vaccinated, which will include a booster vaccine for those who had a second dose more than four months ago.
• Have tested negative for COVID-19 virus in the previous 24 hours.
• Are exempt.

A few helpful links are attached below:

- Ordering LFT
- Registering negative LFT
- Download COVID passport 
- Obtaining a paper copy of COVID passport

Jim Goodwin hopes the work put in on the training ground during the winter break will pay dividends - starting at Tannadice on Tuesday night.

The manager confessed that the break came at a good time for his side with Saints ready to return to action against Dundee United. 

The Buddies had to contend with a Covid outbreak which saw 12 first-team players miss out on a 0-0 draw with Celtic and a number also unavailable for Saints' Boxing Day trip to Ibrox before the cinch Premiership was halted early. 

But the boss has a near full complement to chose from as his side get set for the trip to Tannadice following the resumption of top flight football. 

We have had an opportunity in the break to press the reset button and to work on one or two things and hopefully that will pay off starting at Dundee United.

"The break came at a great time for us as a club. The Covid problems we had in the last two fixtures before the break were well-documented so it couldn’t have come at a better time for us.

"We had one or two injury concerns as well so we have had the best part of two and a half, three weeks to get everyone right so in the main we are in good shape going into the second part of the season.

"I think it's two teams that are desperately searching for any kind of a win to get some confidence and build up some momentum."

Reflecting on the first half of the season, the manager admitted that Saints have drawn too many matches and the side hasn't picked up the points he would have expected from the squad he has assembled. 

The number of points we have accumulated hasn’t been good enough for the quality we have in the group. I have a good, competitive squad at the moment.

"We have had a ridiculous amount of draws this season, more than I can ever remember.

"We have drawn half our league games and if we could just turn three or four of them into victories it could put a whole different complexion on the league table."

Tickets are for our Scottish Cup match away to Ayr United are on-sale now. 

Tickets are only available online using Ayr United's ticketing website which can be accessed at this link. 

Saints supporters have been allocated the Railway End and the West Stand area of Ayr United's Main Stand. 

We would advise supporters to purchase tickets in advance of the match day. There will be no option to pay at the turnstile.

Ticket Prices 

*Over-65, full-time students, 18-21 and disabled.

St Mirren's first match of 2022 takes place on Tuesday night as Jim Goodwin's men take on Dundee United at Tannadice. 

The Buddies head to the city of discovery having drawn three and lost two of the last five before the winter break. There were draws at home against Celtic (0-0), Hibernian (1-1) and Ross County (0-0), while defeats away at Rangers (0-2) and Aberdeen (1-4). 

Dundee United lost five on the bounce heading into the winter break with defeats to Hibernian, Rangers, Livingston, Celtic and Motherwell. United's last win was in November when they defeated Aberdeen at Tannadice. 

Match Details

Dundee United v St Mirren
Competition: cinch Premiership
Date: Tuesday 18th January 2022
Kick-off: 7:45pm
Venue: Tannadice Park

Match Info

Tickets for our trip to Tannadice are available online only at this link. Details on prices can be found here. 

Please note that supporters must either a) be fully vaccinated, which will include a booster vaccine for those who had a second dose more than four months ago; or b) provide proof of a negative Lateral Flow Test. Checks will be in place on Tuesday night. 

PPV will also be available for those who can't make the trip to Dundee. PPV passes are available at this link for £12.50.

Previous

It finished goalless when St Mirren hosted United at the SMiSA Stadium in September - the only meeting of the sides so far this season.

Saints' first win of 2021 came on our last visit to Tannadice. The Buddies won in emphatic fashion with Joe Shaughnessy, Jamie McGrath, Dylan Connolly and Kristian Dennis scoring in a 5-1 win for the Saints. 

Jim Goodwin's side are unbeaten in their last four against United - winning the aforementioned match and drawing the other three. 

Jamie McGrath nets the first of two penalties in Saints' 5-1 win over United on our last trip to Tannadice.

The officials

Alan Muir takes charge of Tuesday's match. He's assisted by Calum Spence and David Dunne. Peter Stuart is the fourth official. 

The SPFL has today announced that cinch Premiership clubs have voted to increase the number of substitutes allowed in league matches to five for the remainder of the season.

The SPFL circulated a written resolution to cinch Premiership clubs asking whether they wished to continue with three substitutes only or to increase the number permitted to five.

The decision has now been approved after it was supported by 75% of cinch Premiership clubs. It will also allow clubs to name a bench of up to nine players.

The move will support player welfare and assist with the congested fixture schedule given the possibility of postponements due to weather conditions or Covid-19.

 Saints manager Jim Goodwin re-iterated his desire to add more pace to the team as he gave an update on the January transfer window.

"I have spoken about the need for a bit more pace in the team. Whether that's in the wide areas or up top that's what we are looking for at the moment."

Jim Goodwin gives an update on the transfer window. pic.twitter.com/qUNJsp3y66

— St Mirren FC (@saintmirrenfc) January 12, 2022

Richard Tait is raring to go for the second half of the season after the Saints returned from the winter break.

The Buddies kick off the next part of the campaign with a trip to Tannadice to face Dundee United on Tuesday - the first of seven games in 23 days. 

Saints have drawn more matches than any side in the cinch Premiership and Richard says the aim will be to turn those draws into wins when the season resumes. 

It's good to be back to training and back to business," the defender said. 

"At the end of the day that's what we're here for - to play football - so I'm looking forward to the games starting next Tuesday.

"It's important you get a break. It recharges the batteries and you can reset your mindset.

"If we are honest with ourselves in the first part of the season we should have picked up more points than we did. We had a lot of draws so that'll be an aim in the back-end of the season - to turn those draws into victories and get three points."

You can watch Richard's full interview on tv.stmirren.com.

Subscriptions are available at £5.99 a month or £59.99 a year in the UK. International Buddies can subscribe from £14.99 a month or £149.99 a year for access to our full platform and live coverage of all cinch Premiership matches (live match coverage outside of UK and Ireland only). 

The St Mirren Football Club Ltd. (Company Number: SC5773)

Notice is hereby given to shareholders that the Annual General Meeting of the Company will be held at 7pm via Zoom on Thursday 27th January 2022 for the following purposes: 

Ordinary business

1. To consider the Accounts for the year to 31 May 2021 and the reports of the Directors and Auditors.
2. To transact any other ordinary business of the Company. 

A Member entitled to attend the vote is entitled to appoint a proxy to attend and vote in his/her place. The proxy (in accordance with the terms of the existing Articles of Association) should be deposited at the Registered Office of the Company not less than 48 hours before the time of the Annual General Meeting. 

Any shareholder who hasn't received an email from the club is advised to contact finance@stmirren.com.