Saints and Motherwell played out a goalless draw in a wet and windy Paisley.
After a forgettable first half, Saints were given the perfect chance to take the lead early in the second when Stephen O'Donnell handled Jonah Ayunga's cross, but Liam Kelly saved Mark O'Hara's effort.
Kelly also did well to turn away Thierry Small's shot but it was the visitors who had the better chances, a combination of poor finishing and great goalkeeping from Zach Hemming meaning Blair Spittal, Mika Biereth and Theo Bair failed to get on the scoresheet.
The only change to the Saints side that had started against Ross County was little surprise, Keanu Baccus replacing the injured Caolan Boyd-Munce in midfield. The in-form Biereth started for the visitors, with former Buddies Jon Obika and Paul McGinn on the bench.
Saints could have taken an early lead in slightly bizarre circumstances when skipper Mark O'Hara released Thierry Small down the right. His cross with his weaker foot was poor, Jonah Ayunga and Stav Nahmani effectively getting in each other's way as they came to meet it. Instead, it ran through to Greg Kiltie only for him to loose his balance as he took his shot – which still threatened to loop under the Motherwell bar. Small's next cross moments later was better, Ayunga sending a header towards goal that Liam Kelly tipped over. That proved to be the extent of the excitement in a first half played with the wind causing havoc for both sides.
Things livened up early in the second half. Ayunga burst forward and then crossed, the ball hitting the arm of the sliding Stephen O'Donnell as he tried to block the delivery. For once, VAR wasn't needed to tell whether it was a penalty, ref Craig Napier pointing straight to the spot. 'Well goalie Kelly indulged in some gamesmanship before he parried away the penalty from the usually reliable O'Hara, the skipper unable to force home the rebound.
Unsurprisingly, the save gave Motherwell a boost and they finally managed their first effort of note when Harry Paton's shot from the edge of the box flashed wide. Georgie Gent then headed a free-kick straight at Zach Hemming before Keanu Baccus shot just wide at the other end. The Aussie midfielder curled his next effort from a short corner over the bar, with Small going close when he cut inside and sent a shot towards the bottom corner that Kelly tipped it away.
When Motherwell countered from the Saints corner that followed, they should have been front. The ball found Blair Spittal in acres of space and he reacted quickly to avoid Alex Gogic's lunge but didn't even test Hemming as he somehow shot wide. The visitors were screaming for a penalty moments later when Callum Slattery got in behind Gogic and then went to ground in the box. Play raged on, with Mr Napier not even invited to look at the VAR monitor when the ball went out.
There was another penalty appeal when the ball may have hit Richard Taylor's arm but that also fell on deaf ears before Biereth squandered a glorious chance, getting goalside of the Saints defence before scuffing his shot at Hemming. As the game entered the final few minutes, Motherwell had another chance to score when sub Theo Bair was sent through but Hemming pulled off a great save. Deep into stoppage time, the Motherwell defence left a Saints cross and it bounced through to Conor McMenamin, however it rose too high for the Saints sub and was only able to head over as the points were shared.
Full-Time: St Mirren 0-0 Motherwell
St Mirren: Hemming, Fraser, Gogic, Taylor, Small (McMenamin 68), O'Hara (c), Baccus, Kiltie (Greive 82), Tanser, Nahmani (Mandron 68), Ayunga (Olusanya 78)
Subs Not Used: Urminsky, Bolton, Dunne, Sutherland, Jamieson
Motherwell: Kelly (c), O'Donnell, Mugabi, Blayney, Spencer, Slattery (Shaw 87), Zdravkovski, Paton, Gent (McGinn 90), Spittal, Biereth (Bair 87)
Subs Not Used: Oxborough, Wells, L.Ross, M.Ross, Wilkinson, Obika
Referee: Craig Napier
Assistant Referee: Dougie Potter
Assistant Referee: John McCrossan
Fourth Official: Alastair Grieve
VAR: Alan Muir
Attendance: 5,837
