St Mirren made it two wins from two at the start of the cinch Premiership season after a 2-1 victory over Dundee at The SMiSA Stadium.
An own goal from ex-Saint Joe Shaughnessy had the Buddies ahead early on before Zach Hemming saved a Dundee penalty. Mikael Mandron headed home at the end of the first-half to have us two to the good at the interval. The visitors pulled one back in the second-half, but Stephen Robinson's men held on to claim all three points.
There were two changes to the side that defeated Hibernian at Easter Road on the opening day. Skipper Mark O'Hara missed out after a thigh injury in training on Friday. That meant Marcus Fraser captained the side with Caolan Boyd-Munce replacing the 27-year-old in the starting eleven. Mandron returned from his injury in place of Toyosi Olusanya.
The Buddies hit the front with just seven minutes on the clock. Conor McMenamin's dangerous cross from the right was nodded beyond Trevor Carson by ex-Saints captain Shaughnessy on his return to The SMiSA Stadium. It had come after an early penalty shout when Greg Kiltie's volley from the edge of the area looked like it may have come off the hand of a Dundee defender a few moments earlier.
McMenamin came close to putting Saints 2-0 ahead on 21 minutes. The Northern Irish winger met Scott Tanser's cross and his header crashed off the bar before Kiltie's follow-up overhead drifted well wide.
Dundee had the chance to equalise from the penalty spot on 35 minutes after a VAR intervention saw the Dark Blues awarded a spot kick. Mandron was penalised form a pull in the box and despite referee Colin Steven missing it initially, he was advised by VAR Nick Walsh to take a look at the pitch-side monitor where he subsequently awarded the penalty. Zach Robinson stepped up for the Dee but was denied by Hemming who went the right way and pushed away with his feet.
Zach Hemming made a big save to deny Dundee from the penalty spot (Image: Allan Picken)
It would be a costly miss for the visitors as the Buddies would double their advantage in added on time at the end of the first-half. It was Mandron with the goal as he headed home Boyd-Munce's brilliant delivery to score his fourth goal in five starts for Saints.
Dundee pulled a goal back just after the hour mark when Josh Mulligan nodded home a cross from the left. There was a lengthy VAR check for handball, however the goal stood. The visitors had a big chance to draw level minutes later when McCowan got in behind the Saints defence, but his strike was well saved by Hemming.
Saints boss Stephen Robinson responded by making a double substitution with Toyosi Olusanya and Alex Greive introduced in place of Kiltie and Mandron. Greive almost made an instant impact when he swung a foot on Tanser's clipped ball in, but Shaughnessy was on the line to clear for the visitors with a VAR check saying the ball didn't cross the line. Fellow substitution Olusanya had a big opportunity to make it 3-1 on 76 minutes when he was found by McMenamin's cross. The forward had a free header from close-range, but nodded over.
Saints had to deal with pressure from the away side with seven added minutes at the end of the game, but held firm to claim the three points.
Full-Time: St Mirren 2-1 Dundee
St Mirren: Hemming, Fraser (c), Gogic, R.Taylor, Strain, Baccus, Boyd-Munce (Bolton 68), Tanser, Kiltie (Olusanya 71), McMenamin (Flynn 87), Mandron (Greive 71)
Subs Not Used: Urminsky, Dunne, Kenny, Jamieson, Nahmani
Dundee: Carson, McGhee (Kerr 84), Shaughnessy (c), Ashcroft, McCowan, Mulligan, Cameron (Tiffoney 57), Boateng, Beck, Bakayoko, Robinson (Rudden 76)
Subs Not Used: Legzdins, McCracken, Pineda, Robertson, Anderson, Graham
Referee: Colin Steven
Assistant Referee: Calum Spence
Assistant Referee: David Dunne
Fourth Official: Grant Irvine
VAR: Nick Walsh
Attendance: 6,581
