St Mirren are on the march to Hampden after a stunning last-gasp win over Rangers in the Betfred Cup.

Conor McCarthy smashed Rangers' 27 game unbeaten record with an injury time winner to seal a 3-2 win over the Gers and send Saints into the semi-finals where they will face Livingston.

While it was an unforgettable night for Jim Goodwin's men they could have been forgiven for thinking that a long night was in store when Rangers took the lead with just seven minutes played. McCarthy's header was picked up deep in the Saints half by Connor Goldson who strolled beyond Ethan Erhahon on his way into the box and slammed home. 

Saints claims for a penalty were denied on 34 minutes when Jon Obika went down in the box under the challenge from Leon Balogun. Referee David Dickinson, who was a late replacement for the injured Andrew Dallas, said no.

The Buddies would win a penalty six minutes later when Dylan Connolly was felled by Calvin Bassey. Jamie McGrath stepped up and coolly stroked beyond Allan McGregor to make it four goals in four matches.

It didn't take long into the second-half for McGrath to make it five in four after a well worked move from Saints. Erhahon fed the ball down the channel to Connolly who raced down the right-hand side before swinging a low ball into the Rangers box. Jon Obika held it up before laying off to McGrath. The Irishman showed great composure to twist by the Gers defence and knock beyond McGregor to put Saints in front.

Rangers thought they were level on 65 minutes when James Tavernier had the ball in the Saints net. Alnwick couldn't hold Kent's long-range effort with Kemar Roofe on to the rebound and rolling back to Tavernier who tucked home. But the linesman had judged that Roofe had run the ball out of play.

The visitors put pressure on to try and find an equaliser in the final 15 minutes with Alnwick holding a low drive from Tavernier on 75 minutes.

Then, with just two minutes of normal time remaining, Rangers found a leveller through substitute Steven Davis. Tavernier's free-kick cracked off the post and fell to Davis whose shot into the corner just evaded Alnwick to find its way into the top corner. 

It was a sickener for Saints who looked to be heading into extra-time. But this St Mirren side had other ideas. A McGrath corner was pushed away by McGregor, only for Doyle-Hayes to force it back to McGrath who swung it in again. Richard Tait rose the highest only to be denied by a wonderful save by McGregor. It landed at the feet of McCarthy who slammed into the roof of the net to secure a memorable win for the Paisley Saints.

Full-Time: St Mirren 3-2 Rangers

St Mirren: Alnwick, Fraser, Shaughnessy (c), McCarthy, Tait, Connolly (MacPherson 82), McGrath, Doyle-Hayes, Erhahon, Mason, Obika (Erwin 90)
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Foley, Flynn, McAllister, Durmus, Dennis, Jamieson

Rangers: McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson, Balogun (Hagi 84), Bassey (Barisic 56), Arfield (Davis 56), Zungu (Kamara 72), Aribo, Kent, Itten (Defoe 72), Roofe
Subs Not Used: McLaughlin, Helander, Patterson, Barker

Referee: David Dickinson
Assistant Referee: Graeme Stewart
Assistant Referee: John McCrossan
Fourth Official: Chris Graham 

St Mirren's #12DaysOfChristmas is underway with a range of great prizes and other content coming up on our social feeds in the build up to the big day. 

Yesterday saw Saints supporter Matthew Ramsay win a box of pies courtesy of our friends at Pie Sports and we have more giveaways planned over the coming days. 

With just nine days to go until Christmas we have two striking wallpapers available for your phone featuring St Mirren's number nine Jon Obika.

Get yours below.

St Mirren's Scottish Premiership clash against Rangers at the SMiSA Stadium on 30th December 2020 will now kick-off at 3pm after an agreement between both clubs. 

The match was due to kick-off at 7:45pm, but the decision has been made to bring forward kick-off. 

St Mirren v Rangers
Scottish Premiership
The SMiSA Stadium, Paisley
Wed 30th December 2020
3pm kick-off

Premier Sports will have live and exclusive coverage of St. Mirren’s Betfred Cup Quarter Final tie v Rangers this Wednesday evening from 7.30pm. The Saints continue their quest to emulate their success in the competition they won in 2013.

Emma Dodds, Stephen Craigan, Alex Rae, Rory Hamilton and Jenny Drummond will be on hand from the Premier Sports presenting team to bring fans all of the action.

How to watch on TV in the UK

- Sky customers signing up at www.premiersports.com can watch St Mirren on Premier Sports HD on channel 412. New customers can subscribe from just £12.99 per month (1 month minimum term) with no connection fee or £120 annually. Premier Sports customers on Sky will also receive free access to the Premier Player by registering here - https://www.premierplayer.tv/subscribe/existing-customer

- Online (Web, iOS App, Android App): www.premierplayer.tv Premier Player from just £12.99 per month (1 month minimum term) with no connection fee or £99 annually. If using App please set up account first on web browser before downloading the App.

- Virgin customers: Premier Sports channel 551. You can subscribe for £9.99 per month via the provider with no connection fee or minimum contract. Call 0845 840 7777 or set up viewing via box. (Press Home > Apps and Games > All Apps > TV Upgrades.)

Premier Sports offer paid subscription services. Payments for subscriptions to Premier Sports via Sky or the Premier Player streaming service will automatically recur monthly or annually dependent on your chosen package unless notice is given to cancel. The auto-recurring price will be at the standard rate. Cancelations must be made by phone or email and must include a minimum five days’ notice prior to next bill. No cancelations accepted within 48 hours of subscribing. Minimum Subscriptions period is dependant (and matches) your chosen package. Terms and Conditions apply. For full terms and conditions visit www.premiersports.com. 

There's a place in the Betfred Cup semi-finals up for grabs as St Mirren host Rangers at the SMiSA Stadium on Wednesday.

Jim Goodwin's side defeated Aberdeen in the last 16 to reach this stage and head into the match on the back of a 1-0 win over Motherwell on Saturday which extended our unbeaten run to nine matches.

Rangers are unbeaten domestically this season and beat Falkirk 4-0 at the Falkirk Stadium last month to progress to the quarter-finals. Steven Gerrard's outfit come into the match having beaten Dundee United 2-1 at Tannadice on Sunday.

Match Details

St Mirren v Rangers
Competition: Betfred Cup
Date: Wednesday 16th December 2020
Kick-off: 8pm
Venue: The SMiSA Stadium

Can I watch the match?

As with the previous round, Premier Sports have live and exclusive coverage of the match in the UK and Ireland.

International subscribers can watch the match on St Mirren TV as part of their subscription, while live audio commentary will be available within the UK. 

Manager's Thoughts

"Rangers will be heavy favourites to go on and win the cup but as we have all seen in recent years, particularly in this competition, there are upsets along the way.

"There’s definitely an opportunity there and I think everyone will be willing us on on Wednesday. Every other manager that’s left in the competition will want us to cause an upset because if we are able to knock out Rangers then it’s a better opportunity for everyone."

Previous

Both sides have faced each other once this season. 

The Buddies faced Rangers at Ibrox in August in the Scottish Premiership with the Glasgow side winning 3-0.

Who are the officials?

The referee is Andrew Dallas. Graeme Stewart and John McCrossan are the linesmen. David Dickinson is the fourth official. 

St Mirren moved off the bottom of the Scottish Premiership as Jamie McGrath scored his third goal in as many games to seal a win over Motherwell at Fir Park.

Saints leapfrogged Hamilton Academical and Ross County with their fourth league win of the season to move into 10th spot.

Jim Goodwin's men started brightly and weren't far from opening the scoring with just 40 seconds of the game played. Ilkay Durmus drove into the Motherwell box and sent a low ball across which Jon Obika flicked just wide. 

The hosts passed up a great chance a few minutes later. Chris Long fired across the face of the Saints goal with Callum Lang sliding in at the far post, but the striker's effort went well over.

Saints took the lead on 13 minutes as Jamie McGrath made it three goals in three. Ethan Erhahon slid a delicious ball through the heart of the Motherwell defence sending Obika through on goal. The forward's attempt was saved by the feet of Jordan Archer and fell nicely for McGrath allowing the Irishman to slam into the empty net from 18 yards. 

Buoyed by the goal, the Buddies were playing some nice football and almost doubled their lead eight minutes later. Connolly got in ahead of Liam Grimshaw to meet a cross from the left, but his header drifted agonisingly wide.

Callum Lang had a go from range but the low strike was easily held by Jak Alnwick who had a quiet afternoon to that point. 

The start of the second-half was scrappy with only a Tony Watt header which was easily gathered by Alnwick all either side had to show in the opening 20 minutes of the second 45. 

Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson responded by bringing on Devante Cole, Jake Hastie and Liam Polworth for Lang, Long and Bevis Mugabi, while Jim Goodwin brought on Lee Erwin for Jon Obika.

Cole and Polworth both went close for the hosts within the space of a minute. The former shot straight at Alnwick from an angle before Polworth nodded over from close range. 

With a little over 10 minutes remaining Polworth forced Alnwick into action with the Saints goalkeeper down well to push away the midfielders effort from the edge of the box. 

Saints were able to hold firm and extend their unbeaten run to nine matches as well as picking up a valuable three points.

Full-Time: Motherwell 0-1 St Mirren

St Mirren: Alnwick, Fraser, McCarthy, Shaughnessy (c), Tait (Mason 73), Connolly (MacPherson 73), McGrath, Doyle-Hayes, Erhahon, Durmus, Obika (Erwin 60)
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Flynn, McAllister, Foley, Morias, Dennis

Motherwell: Archer, O'Donnell, Mugabi (Polworth 67), Gallagher, Grimshaw, O'Hara (Lamie 78), Maguire, Campbell, Watt, Lang (Hastie 56), Long (Cole 56)
Subs Not Used: Chapman, Johnston, McGinley, Devine, Crawford

Referee: Euan Anderson
Assistant Referee: Andrew McWilliam
Assistant Referee: Ross MacLeod
Fourth Official: Alan Newlands

St Mirren's Scottish Premiership clash against Hibernian at Easter Road on 23rd December 2020 will now kick-off at 6pm after an agreement between both clubs. 

The match was due to kick-off at 7:45pm, but the decision has been made to bring forward kick-off. 

Hibernian v St Mirren
Scottish Premiership
Easter Road, Edinburgh
Wed 23rd December 2020
6pm kick-off

St Mirren's home match against Celtic (originally scheduled Saturday 23rd January 2021) will be shown live on Sky Sports.

Due to TV coverage, the match has been rescheduled for Sunday 24th January with a 4:30pm kick-off.

The full details for the rescheduled fixture are as follows:

St Mirren v Celtic
Scottish Premiership
The SMiSA Stadium, Paisley
Sunday 24th January 2021
Live on Sky Sports, 4:30pm kick-off

St Mirren Football Club can today confirm that it will be appealing the decision of the SPFL tribunal on Thursday December 3rd 2020.

The club is unable to make any further comment on this matter until the proceedings are complete, at which point we will update our supporters.

St Mirren head to Lanarkshire on Saturday to take on Motherwell for the first time this season in the Scottish Premiership.

The Buddies are unbeaten in their last three Scottish Premiership matches and eight in all competitions. A 1-0 win away to Livingston was sandwiched between home draws with Dundee United (0-0) and Aberdeen (1-1) along with a 2-1 win over Aberdeen in the Betfred Cup.

Motherwell go into Saturday's match on the back of a 3-0 loss to Hibernian at home on Saturday. The Steelmen's last Premiership victory was at the end of October when Stephen Robinson's men defeated Livingston 2-0 at the Tony Macaroni Arena.

Match Details

Motherwell v St Mirren
Competition: Scottish Premiership
Date: Saturday 12th December 2020
Kick-off: 3pm
Venue: Fir Park

Can I watch the match?

Saturday's match is live on Motherwell's pay-per-view site for £12 if you live inside the UK & Ireland.

International subscribers to St Mirren TV can watch the match live as part of their subscription.

Previous

Saints are unbeaten in their last two matches at Fir Park. 

Jim Goodwin's men defeated the Steelmen in Scottish Premiership action at Fir Park in February. Jon Obika levelled early in the second-half after Motherwell had taken the lead through Liam Donnelly. Ilkay Durmus netted a late winner to give Saints all three points.

The Buddies had knocked Motherwell out of the Scottish Cup on penalties a week previous following a 4-4 draw. 

Manager's Thoughts

"We're in a great place at the moment.

"Motherwell, although they haven't hit the heights of last season, still pretty much have the same squad and they are capable on any day of beating anyone.

"We've got to be aware of the threat Motherwell carry, but we've also got to remind ourselves of how well we are playing and how much of a threat we are carrying at the moment.

"To do what we did to Aberdeen back-to-back gives us great confidence and belief. We have to take confidence from those particular games and carry it into another difficult game against Motherwell.

"We feel as if everyone is back to 100% fitness and injury wise we've got no concerns. It's a great place for me to be as manager when we have real competition for places."

Who are the officials?

Euan Anderson is the man in the middle on Saturday. He's assisted by Andrew McWilliam and Ross Macleod. Alan Newlands is the fourth official.