The St Mirren Reserves' SPFL Reserve 2018/19 League campaign came to an end with a 1-1 draw away to Aberdeen this afternoon.

Sam Jamieson struck for the Buddies after Max Barry had given the Dons a first-half lead. 

Saints end the season in 12th place having won six of their 17 Reserve League matches. 

To find out more about the SPFL Reserve League please click here. 

The St Mirren Reserves are in SPFL Reserve League action for the final time this season as they travel Balmoral Stadium to face Aberdeen. 

Kick-off takes place at 1:30pm.

To find out more about the SPFL Reserve League please click here.

The club was delighted to welcome 1959 Scottish Cup winners Alistair Miller and Jim Rodger to the Simple Digital Arena on Saturday. 

Last Thursday marked the 60th anniversary of Saints' second Scottish Cup triumph and Miller and Rodger, who played in the final, were guests of the club at Saturday's 1-1 draw with St Johnstone. 

Jim, who gifted his Cup winning top to the club, and Alistair spoke in the hospitality lounge before being invited in to the SMFC 1877 Supporters club by director Alan Wardrop where they talked about their memories of winning the Cup.

We were delighted to welcome the pair to the match and hope to see them at the Simple Digital Arena again in the near future.

St Mirren Commercial Manager, Campbell Kennedy is putting on two buses on Saturday 4th May for our trip to face Motherwell in the Ladbrokes Premiership.

The hospitality suite will be open from 11am for refreshments with buses departing the stadium at 1:45pm. 

The cost is £6 per seat and tickets are available to purchase at the main reception of the Simple Digital Arena. 

The Paisley Panda is also running a family bus to Saturday's match. More details here.

St Mirren manager Oran Kearney gives his thoughts on this afternoon's 1-1 draw at home to St Johnstone in the Ladbrokes Premiership.

A last gasp wonder strike from Danny Mullen ensured a share of the points in Paisley.

Mullen's last-minute volley grabbed a crucial well-deserved point in an exciting game at The Simple Digital Arena.

The battle of the Saints was proceeded by one-minute applause in memory of former Scotland great, Billy McNeil, who died aged 79 earlier in the week.

St Johnstone had an early break down the right-hand side after a scrappy first ten minutes. A well worked move from the visitors saw the ball floated into the St Mirren box aimed for Callum Hendry. However, it was hastily dealt with by Vaclav Hladky in the Buddies net.

The men from Perth were causing problems down the right-hand side again a minute later. St Johnstone defender, Richard Foster, had his cross blocked which resulted in the first corner of the game.

The match then entered a pendulum period, switching possession relentlessly with every ball being battled by both teams. 

St Mirren could have been ahead on the 20th minute when the ball broke to Mateo Muzek just outside the penalty area, Muzek fought off challenges to swing a left-footed strike goalwards which was rashly punched over the bar by Clark in the St Johnstone net for a corner.  The subsequent ball into the box was cleared by the away side, but the play did signal a turn in what was a very good spell for the Paisley men.

St Johnstone's Murray Davidson received a stern talking to from the referee for his late challenge on Ryan Flynn. From the proceeding free kick at the halfway line, the Buddies threatened the Perth side with a testing ball into the box which eventually lead to a corner kick. The half-hour mark came, with the game finely balanced and highly contested.

A late challenge on Paul McGinn resulted in a booking for St Johnstone’s Murray Davidson. The proceeding free kick out was floated in by Anders Dreyer, but the ball bypassed all players before crashing off the St Johnstone post.

A late flurry of good play from St Mirren before the break saw Danny Mullen's header just over the bar. The game was poised at nil-nil at the halftime break.

St Johnstone began the second half a little sharper than the home side, putting the Buddies under some early pressure. However, the game slowly moulded into a similar pattern as the first half, with barely anything to separate the sides and the best chances falling to the home team.

Stephen McGinn slipped a clever through-ball to Dreyer in the 52nd minute. The Dane took a neat touch before being taken out by St Johnstone's Scott Tanser. The resulting free kick was cleared by the Perth side, who then broke away quickly. A foul on the halfway line by Ryan Flynn halted the move and earned him a yellow card.

St Mirren then endured a tense few minutes as a dangerous looking free kick for St Johnstone on their left hand flank was whipped in by Kennedy. The powerful cross was headed clear back to where it came from before a questionable decision by the referee resulted in another St Johnstone free kick. The ball eventually broke clear to the substitute, McAllister, on the left hand side who was carelessly brought down near the halfway line.

In to the last ten minutes and substitute, Simeon Jackson caused problems in the St Johnstone box. The striker turned a St Johnstone defender and forced a quick reaction from the keeper.

However, the Saints were dealt a blow just ten minutes from time. Against the run of play, a great sweeping cross ball by St Johnstone's Liam Craig landed at Richard Foster, who carried the ball in his stride before winning the bounce of the ball over McAllister. Foster then slotted the ball inside to substitute Chris Kane, who had kept up with play. Kane made no mistake from 8 yards out and placed the ball into the St Mirren bottom left-hand corner.

The final minutes became a dog-fight, with St Mirren anxiously looking for the equaliser which they deserved. McAllister's excellent Cruyff turn and cross into the box was eventually cleared, but St Mirren continued to apply pressure looking for a goal. The final five minutes were all at St Mirren's feet, with loads of possession but struggling to find that killer ball which would lead to a goal.

The home side’s moment eventually arrived with minutes to spare of regular time. Vaclav Hladky picked up the ball near the halfway line, miles from his goal, and fired a hopeful ball towards Simeon Jackson. The ball was met by the head of St Johnstone’s Kerr but the clearance fell enticingly for Mullen whose left foot produced the sweetest of volleys which rocketed into the top right-hand corner of the net. Not only a vital equaliser but also a contender for goal of the season. 

The full-time whistle went shortly after, ensuring a hard-fought draw was confirmed. The result moves the Buddies seven points clear of bottom side Dundee and keeps us just two points behind Hamilton.

St Mirren: Hladky, P.McGinn, Popescu, MacKenzie, Baird (Magennis 45), Muzek, S.McGinn (c), Flynn, Lyons (Jackson 72), Dreyer (McAllister 59), Mullen
Subs Not Used: Holmes, Ferdinand, Hodson, Nazon

St Johnstone: Clark, Foster, Kerr, Gordon, Tanser, Callachan (Wotherspoon 45), Craig, O'Halloran, Davidson, Kennedy (Swanson 77), Hendry (Kane 66)
Subs Not Used: Bell, Shaughnessy, Swanson, Easton, Goss

Referee: Steven Mclean
Assistant Referee: Douglas Ross
Assistant Referee: Ralph Gordon
Fourth Official: Colin Steven

Attendance: 5,123 

Gallery pictures by Allan Picken © - Allan Picken Photography

St Mirren play host to St Johnstone in our final Saturday home match of the season.

FORM

St Mirren - WDLWLL

St Johnstone - WLWLWL

The Buddies come into tomorrow's match on the back of an impressive 3-1 win away to Livingston at the Tony Macaroni Arena last weekend.

Despite Craig Halkett being sent off, the hosts took the lead through Scott Robinson. 

But Paul McGinn got Saints level soon after, before late goals from Danny Mullen and Simeon Jackson gave Oran Kearney's men the win.

St Mirren have only lost once since our last meeting with St Johnstone. That was a 2-0 loss to Celtic, while there have been wins over Dundee & Livingston and a draw away to Hamilton.

St Johnstone have won three and lost three of their previous six league matches. They come into tomorrow's match following a 2-0 win over Dundee at McDiarmid Park last Saturday.

PREVIOUS

St Johnstone have won all three encounters between the two sides this season. 

The Buddies travelled to Perth for the first meeting back in October. Despite missing two penalties, St Johnstone still ran out 2-0 winners with second-half goals from David Wotherspoon and Matty Kennedy giving Tommy Wright's men the three points.

St Mirren welcomed St Johnstone to the Simple Digital Arena on Boxing Day 2018. The visitors again came away with the points after a last-gasp winner from Tony Watt. 

The Paisley Saints missed a penalty on our trip to McDiarmid Park last month as St Johnstone edged us out 1-0. Simeon Jackson had an early spot-kick saved by Zander Clark before a defensive mix-up allowed Chris Kane to net the game's only goal.

The Buddies last defeated St Johnstone in 2014 when goals from Jason Naismith and Adam Drury gave us a 2-1 win at McDiarmid Park.

Our last win over St Johnstone in Paisley was in October 2013 where we defeated the Perth Saints 4-3. 

WHAT A WIN WOULD MEAN

St Mirren could potentially move into 10th spot if they gather all three points tomorrow.

The Buddies would have to win and hope that Hamilton fail to defeat Livingston at home to climb above Brian Rice's side. 

St Johnstone currently occupy seventh spot and will be keen on three points to keep themselves ahead of eighth placed Motherwell who are just three points behind.

TEAM NEWS

Oran Kearney confirmed that Greg Tansey is out for the season, but the midfielder is the only absence for the Buddies.

Duckens Nazon could come back into the squad after serving his two-match suspension. 

WHAT THE GAFFER SAYS

"There's a good feel about the place. But there's a realisation of where we are at and we are under no illusions of what is still needed.

"St Johnstone are a good side and we've had three tough battles with them over the season and we are yet to come away with any points from it. That should show us how tough a task it's going to be on Saturday. 

"We've always set our sights on the position above us and it is still within touching distance. While it is still mathematically possible we've got to keep pushing as hard as we can.

"The fans can't underestimate how big a role they play. When the chips are down and things aren't going well to have that encouragement from the sidelines is so important and it is absolutely something we need over the last four games."

It is hard to believe that it is almost 4 months since my last statement.

A lot has happened since my last update, not least the complete re-building of our squad in January.

The new players took a bit of time to settle but I think we can all see the progress that has been made and that we are coming good at the right time.

We have certainly had our challenges in our first season back in the top flight but I am looking forward to what is sure to be an exciting climax to the campaign. Our performances of late have given us all real hope that we can retain our Premiership place.

Oran, his backroom staff and his team have worked incredibly hard to get us moving in the right direction once again. For that we are all thankful and we should look forward to the remaining games with a justified sense of belief.

It would be nice to be able to sit back and relax over the last few games of the season but as Saints fans you will know this is very rarely the case. There have certainly been few dull moments over the last 3 seasons since we took over!

The South Stand

Having allocated the whole of the West stand to our own fans with such success in our Championship winning season we felt that we had to try to find a way to continue that arrangement in the Premiership.

We had to try and achieve that whilst still balancing the financial considerations of playing in a top flight where we are competing against other clubs who give over large areas of their stadium to big visiting supports.

As you know we took the decision to retain the use of W6 and W7 in the West Stand for home fans only for all games with Rangers and Celtic fans being allocated the South Stand in addition to the usual away end in the North Stand during their visits.

Whilst I appreciate this move caused disruption to our season ticket holders and supporters in the South Stand we have worked hard to ensure those fans requirements were met for the games in question through reduced ticket pricing and priority purchasing of re-allocated seats.

In short, the decision we took enabled us to increase our playing budget by 10% whilst also ensuring we retained the majority of seats for home fans and kept the West Stand exclusively for the use of St.Mirren supporters.

The competitive atmosphere in the first game against Celtic was fantastic and the gate that evening was as close to a sell out as we have been since we moved to the stadium back in 2009.

As a board we are unanimous that our ideal preference would be to retain the use of the South Stand for all our home matches exclusively for our own supporters, however, we also absolutely need to give ourselves the best chance of competing in this division.

Put bluntly, that additional playing budget could be the difference between survival and relegation.

Until such time as home ticket sales or better still season ticket sales dictate otherwise, we plan to continue with the arrangement we have had this season.

Our hope is that our own support continues to grow and we eventually get to a point where demand will dictate that we are able to return the South Stand to our own supporters for every single game. 

The Kibble

We continue to develop our relationship with Kibble Group. Visually you will see that Kibble has advertising around the stadium, however, you won’t know that they are also sponsoring the club by using the dome for sport and physical education of the young people that Kibble look after and also the 1877 club for staff training during the week. We will continue to explore ways in which our mutual goals can be achieved.

Technical Director

In football we are always going to have a turnover in the managerial department whether that be as a result of success or failure.

From the experience we have had over the last 12 months in particular it was clear that we needed someone who would be a constant within the football side of the club. As a result of this we created the role of Technical Director and appointed Gus MacPherson to this position.

The role of Technical Director is constantly evolving.

We are creating a position that will not impact on the main role of the manager but one which will allow us to maintain continuity in the professional manner in which we run the day to day football side of our club.

We were already aware how important recruitment was in being successful and this season has absolutely confirmed that belief.

One of the key roles that the Technical Director will have will be in assisting the manager on all recruitment.

This January window was probably not a good example due to the number of players we had to bring in over a short period of time but hopefully you agree that the recruitment during that month has had a positive impact on the performance of the team.

Going forward we hope to create a much more settled squad where minimal changes are required each transfer window and where every player we bring in has been extensively scouted. 

Saints for a day and first ever women’s match at the stadium

Saint for a day this year is on Sunday the 19th of May with a noon kick off. The bidding closes next Monday, May 5^th at 5pm so there is still time to live the dream. There are still a couple of places left. Click here for details.

Immediately after this game there will be a bit of history created.

Our women’s team will play their first ever game at St Mirren Park with a 4pm kick-off against West Park FC.

Entry to this game will be free and we will be opening the main stand so come along and support the newest addition to the Saints family.

Further details will be released on our website and social media channels once the details have been fully confirmed.

UEFA European Women’s Under 19s Euros

In July this year we are hosting group matches, a Semi Final and the Final of the UEFA Woman’s Under 19 tournament.

We are delighted to continue our association with Scotland’s women’s football team at all levels and look forward to hosting the first ever European Final to be held at our stadium.

On a related note I’d also like to take this opportunity to wish the Scottish Women’s National Team every success at the World Cup in France in the Summer.

Saints Go Marching at Glasgow Kilt Walk

The St Mirren FC Community Trust has an amazing team of fundraisers taking part in the kilt walk this Sunday, April 28th. It is an excellent event with all money raised by our team 'Saints Come Marching In' helping towards funding the many community activities that the trust are now involved in. All funds raised are supplemented by a 40% donation from the Hunter Foundation so please click here and pledge your support now.

Support This Season

The support we have had in those last 3 seasons is something I have touched on many times in my statements. I hope it is always taken with the genuine sincerity intended.

It is easy to support a team when things are going well but the way you have got behind the side, even when things haven’t been going to plan, has been a massive positive.

The feeling around the club now is very similar to the one we had two years ago when we pulled off the great escape and hopefully we can reward that support with another positive outcome this time of asking.

There is no doubt in my mind that without the incredible support the fans have shown, and their unwavering positivity, we would have struggled to recover from the position we found ourselves in.

If we succeed in delivering our goal of staying in the Premiership a massive factor of that will have been your fantastic support.

We know we can count on you to get behind the team for our remaining fixtures so on behalf of everyone at the club, thank you.

COYS!!

Our match day programme, published in partnership with Curtis Sport, will be available from the Club Shop ahead of Saturday’s game.

This issue, for the Ladbrokes Premiership fixture against St Johnstone, is a 52 pager with a £3 cover price.

This latest edition includes the following:

Front Cover – Anders Dreyer
The Gaffer - Oran Kearney looks back on recent matches and looks ahead to the match against the Perth Saints.
Last Time Out – A look back at the recent Premiership match away to Livingston.
The Opposition – Brian Corry runs the rule over Tommy Wright's St Johnstone side.
Matchday Announcements - Bulletin Board of info, dates and events in the world of St Mirren.
St Mirren Greats – David Cochran looks back on the St Mirren career of goalkeeper Craig Samson.
Matchday Gallery - Pictures from the post match presentations in the corporate suite after the recent home match against Celtic.
Action Shot & Q&A (Centre Pages) – Brad Lyons gives the answers to our quick-fire questionnaire. 
Player Kit Sponsors 2018/19 – Check in to see who is sponsoring your favourite player's shirt for the season.
Fans Corner - Ticket prices, travel clubs update, match info and dates for fans to keep in their diary.
Paisley Panda's Fun Corner – Some puzzles to keep the youngsters entertained during the half-time break.
Football Bloody Hell - Alan Gallacher looks at the perils of injury for recreational players in their 30s and 40s! 
Marketing Matters – Campbell Kennedy updates on the latest events and happenings at the club's Commercial Department.
Flashback - A picture gallery from St Mirren's win against the Perth Saints on 29th October 2011.
St Mirren Fixtures & Results 2018/19 – A handy reference page of all the fixtures and results for this season.
Team Lines – The two squads and match officials for Saturday’s match.

To buy this issue or to place your programme subscription for the 2018/19 season click HERE.

If you live outside the UK & Ireland, St Mirren TV is your way to watch Paisley’s Premiership club live in action each and every home match day.

This service, which is delivered by media students from the University of the West of Scotland, will cover all of St Mirren’s home games.

As usual the St Mirren TV team will be presenting all the action from the Simple Digital Arena when St Johnstone are the visitors for Saturday's Ladbrokes Premiership match.

If you want to tune in here is the info you will need:

St Mirren vs St Johnstone
Ladbrokes Premiership
Venue: The Simple Digital Arena, Paisley
Date: Saturday 27th April 2019
Kick-off: 3:00pm BST

To access this match day service:

1 Day Pass – €6.99 EUR
Season Pass – €69.99 EUR

To view Terms & Conditions and get started with St Mirren TV please click HERE.

For technical support with St Mirren TV please e-mail tvsupport@stmirren.com