St Mirren picked up their first league win since August as Jake Doyle-Hayes' first Saints goal gave the Buddies three points in Livingston.

The Irishman struck early in the second-half to ensure Jim Goodwin's side took all the points back to Paisley.

It was the home side who created the first opening with three minutes played. Alan Forrest drove forward and lashed a fizzing effort from distance which Jak Alnwick could only punch clear into the path of Jay Emmanuel-Thomas. The ex-Arsenal striker got his head on it but sent it wide. 

Saints had their first chance on nine minutes when captain Sam Foley headed over from close range after Jamie McGrath's free-kick was spilled by Livi goalkeeper Max Stryjek. 

Three minutes later another McGrath free-kick caused Livingston problems. The midfielder's ball in came off Richard Tait who didn't know much about it leaving Stryjek diving low to his right to save.

Neither side created all the much of note in the remainder of the first-half. Marcus Fraser made a vital block to deny Emmanuel-Thomas, while Stryjek managed to easily gather a Tait header.

Livingston created the first clear cut chance of the second 45 with Alnwick making a terrific save to turn away a Forrest drive. 

But it was the Buddies who would take the lead. A good passage of play from Saints saw Fraser lay a perfect low ball across for McGrath who connected perfectly, cannoning off Jon Guthrie and out for a corner. it was McGrath who swung the resultant corner in. His ball across was headed clear by the Livi defence but only as far as Jake Doyle-Hayes who smashed a first-time volley home, via the aid of a deflection, to score his first St Mirren goal.

That goal was to enough for Saints to gain their first three points since an away win to Hamilton Academical back in August and moved the Buddies to within a point of Livingston in 10th place. 

Full-Time: Livingston 0-1 St Mirren

JIM GOODWIN POST-MATCH REACTION

St Mirren: Alnwick, Fraser, Foley (c), McCarthy, Tait, Connolly (McAllister 79), McGrath (MacPherson 90), Doyle-Hayes, Erhahon, Mason, Obika (Erwin 82)
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Sheron, Flynn, Durmus, Morias, Dennis

Livingston: Stryjek, Devlin, Guthrie, Brown, Lawson (Poplatnik 74), Sibbald (Serrano 64), Holt, Pittman (Mullin 74), Bartley (c), Forrest, Emmanuel-Thomas
Subs Not Used: Maley, Robinson, McMillan, Taylor-Sinclair, Ambrose, Fitzwater

Referee: William Collum
Assistant Referee: Frank Connor
Assistant Referee: David Doig
Fourth Official: Graham Grainger

As Renfrewshire will be operating under COVID protection level four effective today (Friday 20th November) the club can confirm that the SMiSA Stadium will be closed to the public for the duration of this period.

Essential staff will continue to support the operation of the stadium with the remainder of the staff group working from home. If you need to contact the club please use info@stmirren.com in the first instance and please be patient as staff operate under difficult circumstances.

The club would urge all supporters to continue to follow all government guidance to help slow the spread of the virus. Clean your hands regularly, wear a face covering, avoid crowded places, stay two-metres from others and self-isolate and book a test if you have COVID-19 symptoms. More on the current guidance regarding protection level four can be found here.

We thank you all for your support and continued patience in these difficult times.

Our Saints In That Number initiative will reward the most deserving community-conscious individuals with a St Mirren FC 20/21 season ticket. Although the games remain behind closed doors, we hope the small gesture lifts spirits. The tickets are a gift from the club, our partner Kibble, the specialist child and youth care charity and several local businesses including Claymore Contracts Ltd, Scotjet Ltd, CY Turf along with Airdrie Mechanical Services.

We asked you all to help us find the people making Paisley a better place with their selfless acts – and we were delighted to receive heart-warming nominations. It is an honour to announce the first 5 winners.

The First 5 Saints

Congratulations Nikki Berry’s dad, your daughter would like to let everyone know about your selfless acts throughout lockdown.

Thank you Karen and Dan Hughes for your hard work at Erskine Hospital as nominated by Scots Mit Cho.

Heart-warming story from Andrena about her kind brother, Wullie Whitehill.

Congratulations to Richard Murray on the birth of your baby girl! Your friend Gareth Williams didn’t hesitate in nominating you.

Thank you, Sharon Ainsworth, for bringing Tracey Vannet’s kindness to our attention.

Our Sponsors

Huge thank you to all the local businesses who jumped at the chance to join our Saints In That Number initiative.

St Mirren return to Scottish Premiership action this weekend as Jim Goodwin's men head to Livingston. 

The Buddies secured their place in the second round of the Betfred Cup on Saturday with a 1-0 win over Queen's Park at Hampden. Substitute Jon Obika's late header saw Saints win Group G to progress. 

Livingston also booked their spot in the second round with a 4-1 home win over Airdrieonians on Saturday. 

Saints sit in 11th place in the Scottish Premiership - four points off Saturday's opponents who sit in 10th position. However, St Mirren have three games over the Lothian side.

Match Details
Livingston v St Mirren
Competition: Scottish Premiership
Date: Saturday 21st November 2020
Kick-off: 3pm
Venue: The Tony Macaroni Arena

Can I watch the match?

The match will available live on Livingston's pay-per-view for £20. St Mirren TV international subscribers will be able to watch Saturday's match live as part of their subscription. 

There will be audio commentary available to St Mirren TV UK subscribers. 

Previous

Saints hosted Livingston on the opening day of the 2020/21 season in our first competitive match since March 2020.

Debut boy Richard Tait's first-half header was enough to secure a 1-0 win for the Buddies. 

St Mirren were narrowly beaten when they travelled to the Tony Macaroni Arena back in February. Jon Obika scored in the second-half after Steven Lawless and Lyndon Dykes had put Livi 2-0 ahead, but Saints couldn't find the equaliser.

Saints last win away to Livingston was in April 2019 when a 3-1 victory edged the Buddies closer to Premiership survival. 

Who are the officials?

The referee on Saturday is William Collum. His assistants are Frank Connor and David Doig. Graham Grainger is the fourth official. 

St Mirren Football Club was saddened to hear of the passing of long-time Saints supporter Gordian Mothersole.

Gordian was a highly active member of the St Mirren family as chair of the Barry McLaughlin testimonial committee as well as becoming the first chair of the St Mirren Fans Council.

Gordian's face was well known to all around the club including staff and players in his role at the Black and White magazine.

St Mirren Chief Executive Tony Fitzpatrick said: "Everyone at St Mirren is deeply saddened by the news of Gordian's passing.

"Gordian loved St Mirren and was truly a great person who was highly respected by all who knew him. I was lucky to know Gordian personally and was devastated to hear the news yesterday.

"On behalf of the club I would like to pass on our condolences to Gordian's wife Susan and their sons Gordian and Graeme as well as his extended family."

St Mirren's Betfred Cup second round match against Aberdeen will be shown live on Premier Sports. 

The Buddies face the Dons at the SMiSA Stadium on Saturday 28th November with a 5:15pm kick-off. 

Due to Premier Sports broadcasting agreement with the SPFL we are unable to show this match live to season ticket holders. 

Match Details

St Mirren v Aberdeen
Competition: Betfred Cup
Kick-off: 5:15pm
Venue: The SMiSA Stadium

St Mirren Football Club was saddened to hear of the passing of its former goalkeeper Campbell Forsyth who passed away at the age of 86. 

Campbell joined Saints in 1955 from Shettleston and would go on to make 150 appearances for the Buddies before joining Kilmarnock in 1960.

The thoughts of all at St Mirren are with the family and friends of Campbell at this difficult time.

St Mirren have been drawn at home to face Aberdeen FC in the second round of the Betfred Cup. 

The match will take place at the SMiSA Stadium on the weekend of 28/29th November 2020. 

Jim Goodwin's side progressed to the second round as winners of Group G. 

St Mirren finished top of Betfred Cup Group G and qualified for the second-round after a late Jon Obika goal secured a 1-0 win over Queen's Park at Hampden.

The Saints number nine rose the highest to get his head on the end of a Kyle McAllister corner to nod home his fifth goal of the season and put the Buddies in the hat for tomorrow's draw.

Jim Goodwin made five changes from the side that drew with Morton on Wednesday night as Jamie McGrath, Jake Doyle-Hayes, Cammy MacPherson, Dylan Connolly and Kristian Dennis came in for Brandon Mason, Sam Foley, McAllister, Junior Morias and Obika.

Saints knew a drew would secure a place in the next round but it was the home side who, immediately from kick-off, tested Jak Alwnick with the goalkeeper having to push away Bob McHugh's strike from the edge of the area inside the first 15 seconds.

St Mirren's first real opportunity came on 20 minutes when Marcus Fraser expertly picked out Kristian Dennis. The forward got his head on it but nodded just wide of Willie Muir's right-hand post. 

Fraser was linking up well with Richard Tait down the right and it was the former who created the next chance for Saints five minutes later. His low ball across the area found Cammy MacPherson just inside the Queen's Park box but the midfielder blazed over.

Peter Grant headed a dangerous ball across the face of the Saints box as time ticked away in what was a pretty quiet first 45.  

Jim Goodwin responded to that first-half performance by bringing Brandon Mason on in place of Cammy MacPherson at the interval. But Saints were dealt a major blow just three minutes into the second-half when Joe Shaughnessy was shown a straight red for a foul on Michael Doyle. 

Queen's Park should have capitalised on their man advantage five minutes later. Forward McHugh was picked out at the back post but, unmarked, he nodded straight into the arms of Alnwick. 

With a little over 20 minutes remaining Jim Goodwin made a double sub to try and spark Saints into life. On came Kyle McAllister as well as Ryan Flynn who made his return to action for the first time since February.

McAllister's introduction seemed to have the desired effect. He had a terrific chance to open with scoring with just 12 minutes of the game remaining when he found himself through on goal. However, the number 10's low strike was blocked by the feet of Muir.

With just nine minutes remaining Saints found the breakthrough when, for the second time this week, Obika got his head on a McAllister corner to  home. 

Saints will be unseeded in tomorrow's second-round draw which takes place live on Premier Sports following the match between Hibernian and Dundee.

Full-Time: Queen's Park 0-1 St Mirren

WATCH MANAGER JIM GOODWIN'S REACTION TO TODAY'S MATCH HERE.

St Mirren: Alnwick, Fraser, McCarthy, Shaughnessy (c), Tait, Doyle-Hayes, Erhahon, McGrath (Flynn 70), MacPherson (Mason 45), Connolly (McAllister 70), Dennis (Obika 54)
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Sheron, Foley, Morias, Erwin

Queen's Park: Muir, Doyle, Kilday (Biggar 75), Grant, Morrison, Robson, Carroll, Lyon (Gillespie 74), Galt (MacLean 62), Baynham (Quitongo 63), McHugh (McGlinchey 82)
Subs Not Used: Heraghty, Paterson, Gilles

Referee: Greg Aitken
Assistant Referee: Sean Carr
Assistant Referee: Colin Drummond

St Mirren could win Betfred Cup Group G and qualify for the second round when they visit Queen's Park tomorrow afternoon.

A win would guarantee top spot for Saints, while a draw could also be enough depending on the result between Partick Thistle and Morton.

The Buddies go into tomorrow's match in top spot with seven points. Jim Goodwin's men defeated Partick Thistle 4-1 in the first match of the group before picking up bonus points on penalties following draws with Queen of the South (2-2) and Morton (1-1).

Queen's Park cannot qualify for next round having lost all three of their Betfred Cup matches so far. Ray MacKinnon's side lost 2-0 to Partick Thistle, 1-0 to Morton and 3-1 to Queen of the South.

Match Details
Queen's Park v St Mirren
Competition: Betfred Cup
Date: Saturday 14th November 2020
Kick-off: 3pm
Venue: Hampden Park

Can I watch the match?

Queen's Park will be showing the match live on pay-per-view for £10. Details on how to sign-up are available here.

There will be audio commentary available to St Mirren TV international subscribers only.

Manager's Thoughts

"Queen's Park have some players who could be playing at a higher level. I am trying to make that point to the players that we shouldn't underestimate them. I think they are a club who could easily be competing in the Championship.

"They have a manager with great experience and have had a really good start to their league. They probably haven't had the kind run in the Betfred Cup that they'd hope for but I think that's down to how tough our group is. 

"We are really looking forward to it. It's a chance for some of the lads to play at the national stadium for the first.

"We know if we win the game we will top the group and qualify and that's been our target from the beginning."

Previous

The last time St Mirren faced Queen's Park was in the Betfred Cup in July 2018. 

Saints couldn't find a way past the League Two side that night with the game finishing 0-0. The Buddies picked up the bonus point after winning 5-4 on penalties.

Who are the officials?

The referee for tomorrow's match is Greg Aitken. The linesmen are Sean Carr and Colin Drummond.