St Mirren suffered their first league loss of 2018 as they fell to a 4-1 defeat at Livingston this afternoon.
Despite a dream start that saw Ryan Flynn net his first St Mirren goal with less than two minutes played, it was the home side who deservedly picked up all three point.
Indeed, Flynn's opener was the perfect beginning to the top of the table clash for Saints. Lewis Morgan was given time and space on the left side to get the ball into the box. A last ditch tackle from a Livingston defender denied Flynn the chance to get his initial shot away. The ball fell to Gavin Reilly whose effort was pushed away by Neil Alexander into Cammy Smith. It seemed certain that Smith would tuck home his 13th goal of the season only for his strike to be blocked on the line. It then finally fell to Flynn who poked home to send the 1500 plus travelling support wild.
But Saints couldn't capitalise on the good start and the home side almost found themselves level on six minutes when Lee Miller rose the highest heading just by the post.
The equaliser came on nine minutes when a mix up in the Buddies defence allowed ex-Saint Ryan Hardie to level. Craig Samson raced off his line to come for a long ball and collided with defender Jack Baird. The ball fell nicely for Hardie who only had to roll into the empty net to make it 1-1.
St Mirren reacted well and could have been ahead for a second time when Adam Eckersley had a go from outside the area. The full back found himself in acres of space and drove the ball towards the low right hand corner of the net with Alexander at full stretch tipping wide.
Four minutes later though the home side were in front as Hardie netted his second of the afternoon. An Alan Lithgow throw-in was headed on to the striker by Declan Gallagher and he volleyed beyond Samson to make it 2-1.
The Buddies arguably should have had a penalty almost immediately from the restart when Lewis Morgan was clearly pulled in the area but referee Alan Muir was unmoved much to the frustration of Morgan and the away support.
Livingston, however, started to get a grip on the game with Miller heading wide from a good ball across from Nicky Cadden.
The veteran striker wouldn't be denied his first goal for The Lions and netted it in spectacular fashion just a minute later. The ball bounced around the box before he met it with a lovely scissor kick to make it 3-1.
The game quietened down after Livi's third goal but they still had chances to add to their lead before the interval. Samson made a fairly routine stop to deny Hardie his hat-trick, while Rafa De Vita went close when he fired just wide from a corner.
Half Time: Livingston 3-1 St Mirren
Saints would have hoped to have started the second half in the same manner as they started the first half in the hopes of salvaging something from the match. But it was the home side who went close on 47 minutes with Samson making a terrific low save to block Lee Miller's header from Cadden's cross.
St Mirren could have had a goal back just a minute later when neat work from Morgan on the right saw the winger jinx into the box with his ball across narrowly just missing Cammy Smith who would have been fancied to stick the ball home.
Jack Ross made three changes in 13 minutes to try and spark some life into Saints. Gary MacKenzie, Danny Mullen and debutant Myles Hippolyte all came on in place of Ryan Flynn, Gavin Reilly and Cammy Smith.
Danny Mullen was the first to go close when he latched on to a terrific cross-field pass from Jack Baird. He took it down before lashing towards the near post only to be denied by Neil Alexander. From the resulting corner Livingston almost found themselves 4-1 ahead. Saints pushed players forward and when Alexander gathered he quickly sent the Lions forward with Hardie bursting through on goal and crashing a shot off the bar.
While the woodwork denied the home side on that occasion there should have been nothing to deny Cadden 60 seconds later when he broke the offside trap finding himself one-on-one with Samson. Inexplicably the winger managed to crash his shot off the side netting when it seemed a goal was certain.
Debutant Hippolyte was so unlucky not to have opened his St Mirren account with 15 minutes to go. A goal at that point would have made for an interesting finale to the match with the forward reacting quickest to a deflected shot. He had Alexander beaten only for Scott Pittman on the line to clear.
The game ticked away but Livingston would add a fourth in the final seconds after another defensive mistake from Saints. With Samson off his line, Scott Robinson lobbed the ball over the goalkeeper from the left wing to round off a disappointing afternoon for the league leaders.
Next up for Saints is bottom side Brechin at home in the Ladbrokes Championship and Jack Ross' side will look to get back to winning ways.
Full Time: Livingston 4-1 St Mirren
St Mirren: Samson, L.Smith, Baird, Davis, Eckersley, Magennis, McGinn, Flynn (MacKenzie 50), C.Smith (Hippolyte 63), Morgan, Reilly (Mullen 57)
Subs Not Used: Stewart, Stelios, Hill, McShane
Livingston: Alexander, Lithgow, Halkett, Gallagher, Robinson, Pittman, Byrne, De Vita (McMillan 72), Cadden (Longridge 74), Miller, Hardie (Boyd 82)
Subs Not Used: Maley, Buchanan, Jacobs, Mullin
Referee: Alan Muir
Assistant Referee: Jordan Stokoe
Assistant Referee: Liam Butler
Attendance: 2,708
Gallery pictures by Allan Picken © - Allan Picken Photography and John Millar © - Millar Pictures
