St Mirren picked up three points on their return to Ladbrokes Championship action as they defeated Inverness at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium.

Second half goals from Ian McShane and Gavin Reilly sealed a huge league win as the Buddies moved to within a point of first place Dundee United with a game in hand.

The match was stirred into life on 10 minutes after a quiet opening spell when Liam Polworth let fly from distance with Saints goalkeeper Craig Samson doing well to push the ball away with his fingertips. A few moments later, from a corner kick, Samson was alert to deny Carl Tremarco’s header at the near post.

Saints should have taken the lead on the half hour mark when Lewis Morgan managed to break clear. David Raven was trying to get back to cover the winger, but Morgan got himself one-on-one with ex-St Mirren goalkeeper Mark Ridgers, only to slide his effort by the post.

Inverness weren’t creating many clear cut opportunity but had a few shots from distance that troubled Saints. It was Polworth again causing the problems with two long range strikes that went close. The first was drilled just wide before Samson gathered his second attempt a minute later. Joe Chalmers had a go from range a further 60 seconds later, but again Samson was equal to it as he pushed the shot away. 

Samson's Inverness counterpart was made to work on 38 minutes when he tipped over a stinging drive from Ian McShane on the edge of the box.

But it was the hosts who would close out the half the stronger of the two with Samson denying John Baird and Iain Vigurs in quick succession on the lead up to the interval.

Half Time: Inverness 0-0 St Mirren

While Inverness finished the first half as the better side, it was the Buddies who came out brightly after the break.

The rain and snow had lashed down on the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium throughout the whole match and even through the interval. Its effects were beginning to tell early in the second half with puddles on the park holding up the ball slightly before Kyle Magennis rifled an effort at Ridgers on 49 minutes.

Saints’ strong start would be rewarded on 51 minutes when the visitors were awarded a penalty kick. Morgan danced his way into the box before being nudged over by David Raven with referee John McKendrick showing no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Up stepped Ian McShane who sent Ridgers the wrong way to open the scoring.

Caley nearly found themselves level four minutes later though with Samson making another magnificent save to deny Joe Chalmers from distance.

The game hit a lull with a Vigurs free kick crashing off the Saints wall before Morgan curled one of the bar for the Buddies.

But it would soon flash into life again when Vigurs was given his marching orders with a little over 10 minutes to play. Booked in the first half for a coming together with Cammy Smith, the midfielder was shown a second yellow after bringing down McShane in the St Mirren box before screaming in the goalscorer’s face. This prompted Samson to rush out to have a go at Vigurs with the referee also booking the Saints keeper once the melee had calmed down.

Saints brought on Stelios Demetriou for Cammy Smith as they looked to close out the result. And the Cypriot played a major part in St Mirren claiming all three points. With Inverness charging forward in search of an equaliser, the ball fell to Stelios on the edge of the Saints box. He launched it towards Gavin Reilly who knocked it beyond a Caley defender to find himself rushing through one-on-one with Ridgers. The striker showed great composure to knock the ball beyond the goalkeeper to score his 50th career league goal and earn Saints a big three points.

Next up for the Buddies is their game in hand against Livingston on Tuesday night. Both sides go into the midweek fixture knowing a win for either would be enough to send them top of the Ladbrokes Championship.

Full Time: Inverness 0-2 St Mirren

St Mirren: Samson, L.Smith, Baird, Davis, Eckersley, McShane, McGinn, Magennis, C.Smith (Stelios 83), Morgan, Reilly (Duffy 90+3)
Subs Not Used: Stewart, Stelios, Buchanan, McCart, Kirkpatrick, Duffy, Sutton

Inverness: Ridgers, Raven, Tremarco, Chalmers (Oakley 75), Donaldson, Warren, Polworth, Vigurs, Mulraney (Calder 53), Bell, Baird (Trafford 82)
Subs Not Used: Mackay, Elsdon, Doran, Oakley, Calder, Seedorf, Trafford

Referee: John McKendrick
Assistant Referee: Paul O'Neill
Assistant Referee: David Dunne

Attendance: 2,687

Gallery pictures by Allan Picken © - Allan Picken Photography

After a three week break from league duty, St Mirren make the long trip north to Inverness tomorrow to face John Robertson's Caley Thistle side.

The sides last met at the beginning of September when they served up a six goal thriller at The Paisley 2021 Stadium with Saints running out 4-2 winners. Lewis Morgan gave St Mirren a 1-0 half-time lead but the game exploded in the second half as former Buddie, John Baird pulled the Highlanders level again on the hour mark. Three minutes later Gregor Buchanan put the home side back into the lead but that only lasted five minutes as Liam Polworth got Caley Thistle back on level terms again. Less than five minutes later Cammy Smith fired Saints into the lead again and the points were sealed shortly after with a great Ian McShane strike.

Saints suffered a blip the following week losing at Dunfermline but have since gone on to forge forward at the top of the table until they were knocked off top spot last weekend as Dundee United took advantage of Saints playing in the Scottish Cup with the Tannadice side winning 3-0 against Falkirk to move three points ahead of Saints.

The road for Caley Thistle has been a slightly rockier one since that match-up in Paisley as they went on to pick up only two points from their next four league outings. But the side relegated from the Premiership last season look to have found their Championship feet over the last three league outings with impressive back to back wins against Dundee United and Dunfermline and a hard fought goalless draw away to Livingston. The Highlanders are still quite a bit off the promotion chasing pack but with two-thirds of the season still to go they will be expected to be up challenging for at least the promotion play-offs come the end of season run-in.

It's been close on to three years since Saints last made the trip to Inverness when they faced Caley Thistle in a Premiership match at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium on 4th January 2015. St Mirren were fighting for their Premiership status and looked to be picking up a precious point but a late goal from Billy McKay consigned the Paisley side to another defeat and sent them closer towards a relegation they wouldn't be able to avoid.

You have to go back to Boxing Day 2010 to find St Mirren's last win in Inverness. The SPL match saw Lee Cox give the home side an early lead but a goal at the end of each half from midfielder Steven Thomson saw the three points head back to Paisley.

A win against Falkirk last weekend in the IRN-BRU Cup saw Caley Thistle stretch their unbeaten run in all competitions to seven games. So while the Highlanders will be looking to build on their recent good form, Saints will be hoping to recapture the form over September and October that took them to the top of the league. After draws with Falkirk and Morton, Saints lost their last league outing away to Dundee United but after a two week break the Paisley side hit goal-scoring form again last weekend as they won 7-1 against Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale in the Scottish Cup.

It's sure to be a tough encounter in Inverness tomorrow with a win for the home side seeing them close in on the promotion chasing pack while a win for Saints will give them a good start to a three game week as they look to close the gap on Dundee United at the top of the Championship again.

St Mirren head north to The Highlands tomorrow (Saturday 25th November) to face Inverness Caledonian Thistle in a Ladbrokes Championship match-up at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium.

The info on Travel Clubs heading to the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium for the match is as follows: 

North End Travel Club

The bus to Inverness will leave at 9:00am from the Sneddon.

Bus tickets are available from the Brewer's Tap, £12 each.

Chivas Travel Club

The bus to Inverness will leave from The Court Bar at 9:00am.

Bus tickets can be purchased from the Court Bar.

Cockles Wilson Supporters Bus

The bus going to Inverness will be leaving at 9:00am.

This bus is now sold out.

Tile Bar Supporters Bus

The bus for Inverness will leave at 9:00am.

This bus is now sold out.

Disabled and carer price as per age and carer ticket is free*

* Proof of entitlement required

Additional Information for Travelling Fans

Tomorrow, Saturday 25th November, St Mirren make the trip to The Highlands to face Inverness Caledonian Thistle in a Ladbrokes Championship match-up at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium.

The St Mirren fans will be allocated the South Stand at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium with entry by turnstiles 7 & 8. Tickets for the match must be bought at the Away Ticket Kiosk, adjacent to the stand.  Ticket prices for the fixture are confirmed above.

The referee tomorrow is John McKendrick and he will be assisted by Paul O'Neill and David Dunne.

Saints forward Cammy Smith says he's excited for the St Mirren's Scottish Cup Fourth Round tie after Saints were paired with his former club, Aberdeen. 

The Buddies, who made the last 32 after a 7-1 win over Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale last weekend, will face the Ladbrokes Premiership side at Pittodrie in January.

Smith came through the ranks at the Dons, beginning his career at the North East club as a young boy before joining St Mirren permanently in the summer.

But while he confessed that he's looking forward to it when it comes around, he knows that the Buddies main focus will be on important league fixtures in the coming weeks. 

That starts this weekend as St Mirren travel to the Highlands as they face Inverness Caledonian Thistle in league action on Saturday. 

I'm really looking forward to it and I'm happy we've got them," he told stmirren.com. "It'll be good to go back to Pittodrie as that's where I came through as a youth when I was nine years-old. It'll be good to see some familiar faces, but before that we have some important league games.

"I was hoping for maybe a smaller team in the hopes that we could have gone on a wee run but now its came about I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm delighted and can't wait for it to come around.

"I think it will be a big test because outwith Celtic, going to Pittodrie is probably the hardest to go to. But we'll believe we can go there and win the tie. We won't be going to just enjoy the occasion. The gaffer will have a game plan for us when it comes around.

"I'm sure it'll be an exciting game and hopefully we'll manage to cause them problems. But as I say we have important league games in front of us before that."

Saints have only played one league fixture so far this month - a 2-1 loss away to Dundee United at the start of the month. 

And with the Inverness game being the first of three league matches in a week, Smith admits he and his teammates are looking forward to being back at it.

I can't wait to get back into league games to be honest," he said. "It's been a while since our last one.

"It's a big week for us with three games and it gives us a chance to get points on the board and put a marker down again. Training has been good since we came back in on Monday and we got a good win on Saturday so we are all raring to go this weekend."

The Buddies have already faced seventh placed Inverness in the league this season, defeating John Robertson's side 4-2 in Paisley.

But the 22 year-old knows the Caley Jags will be tough opposition after admitting he was impressed with them despite their defeat at the Paisley 2021 Stadium in September. 

I remember the day we played them, after the game all the boys in the dressing room thought they were good.

"We respected them and credited them for their performance and I think this weekend is going to be the same. They've got seven clean sheets on the bounce so it'll be tough, but knowing the way the manager works he'll be drilling into us to believes, be confident and try to take the game to them. We'll go up there to try to get the three points.

"It's going to be a tough game but with the players we've got in the changing room and the character I'd like to think we can go and get the win. 

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

Notice is hereby given to Shareholders that the Annual General Meeting of the Members of the St Mirren Football Club Ltd will be held at the Paisley 2021 Stadium, Greenhill Road, Paisley PA3 1RU on Thursday 14 December 2017 at 7:15pm.

By Order of the Board
C Stewart (Secretary)

A Member entitled to attend the vote is entitled to appoint a proxy to attend and vote in his/her place. A proxy need not be a Member of the Company. Shareholders will be contacted directly.

St Mirren have been drawn to face Aberdeen in the Fourth Round of the William Hill Scottish Cup. 

The Buddies defeated East of Scotland League side Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale on Saturday in the Third Round to set up the meeting with the Dons.

The match will take place at Pittodrie on the weekend of Saturday 20th January 2018. 

Ticketing arrangements will be announced in due course. 

St Mirren Football Club is delighted to announce the launch of the first St Mirren’s Women’s team.

The new Women’s team will take to the field in black and white for the new season in March 2018.

They’ll enter at the lowest tier but Kate Cooper, who will run the new side, told stmirren.com that the side have aspirations to quickly progress to SWPL 1.

We’re ambitious,” she said. “We want to come in and go through the leagues and eventually have St Mirren playing in the Premier League with a good structure behind it.

“We’re looking to put together a team we can grow so we can offer women in Paisley and the Renfrewshire area the chance to play football and play for a club they have perhaps supported for all their life.

“It allows them to come and play football, get fit, get healthy and be a part of the St Mirren football family. Football is a family sport and you have to offer it to everyone and it’s important that clubs recognise what women bring to the game also. 

“What we want to do is grow St Mirren, the St Mirren football family and ultimately keep players playing football in Renfrewshire.”

St Mirren Chief Executive, Tony Fitzpatrick said: “This is a fantastic development for our club. Women’s football’s popularity is on the rise in Scotland and more and more female supporters are attending St Mirren matches.

"The dream for me is to see our club progress and for us to have both a male and female team playing in Europe in the near future.”

The St Mirren Independent Supporters Association (SMiSA) initially brought the club together with the individuals who will be making up the Women’s team. SMiSA will continue to work closely with both to see how they can support them.

A gallery of pictures from Saturday's 7-1 win over Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale in the William Hill Scottish Cup.

The Buddies ran rampant in the first half scoring all seven of their goals with striker Gavin Reilly notching four goals in 34 minutes.

Harry Davis made his return to first team action after suffering an injury in March while St Mirren Youth Academy graduate Cameron MacPherson made his first start for the club.

Gallery pictures by Allan Picken © - Allan Picken Photography

St Mirren manager Jack Ross gives his thoughts on this afternoon's 7-1 win over Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale in the third round of the William Hill Scottish Cup. 

The Buddies eased into the next round with seven first half goals safely securing Saints' place in Monday's draw.