It was the late, late, late show from Saints against Aberdeen as they conjured an escape to victory that even Sylvester Stallone would have deemed far fetched.
The Buddies had been behind from the first minute, an absolute screamer of a goal from Connor Barron. But despite Saints dominating the possession and creating chances throughout, it looked like that goal would be enough to give Neil Warnock his first win as Aberdeen manager.
But in added time, Saints were awarded a free-kick for a foul just outside the box on Toyosi Olusanya. Then VAR intervened and, after a lengthy delay, decided the foul had been inside the box. Returning skipper Mark O'Hara was cool, calm and collected from the spot to level things up.
Given the afternoon it had been, the fans would probably have been satisifed with a point but Saints weren't finished. As play resumed, Conor McMenamin flighted a ball into the box, the ball was headed back across goal by Mikael Mandron and Olusanya stabbed it into the roof of the net, sparking scenes of bedlam on the park and around three-quarters of the stadium as no points became a deserved three in the blink of an eye.
The away side hit the front in the opening seconds. The Saints defence seemed to have snuffed out the threat of Duk but the ball found its way to Barron around 30 yards from goal. The visiting support shouted at him to shoot and he duly did, unleashing a thunderbolt that sailed past Zach Hemming into the top corner to give the Dons the best possible start. Watching FIFA president Gianni Infantino would have been impressed.
Greg Kiltie's shot was easily dealt with by Kelle Roos as Saints tried to respond. They could have been level when the Dons goalie tipped Scott Tanser's header onto the post, resulting in a scramble that saw Lewis Jamieson's attempt to smash the ball home deflected wide – the VAR check that followed eventually deciding there was nothing worthy of a penalty.
Hemming got down well to parry Duk's shot as the visitors looked to double their lead before Jamieson went close again, meeting Caolan Boyd-Munce's inviting ball over the top with a tremendous volley that clipped the top of the bar, possibly with a bit of help from Roos. Mikael Mandron then went close with a header before another VAR check came up blank.
Jamieson was replaced by Toyosi Olusanya at the break but it was the Dons who threatened Hoilett drawing a good save from Hemming – although it proved irrelevant as the flag then went up for offside. That wasn't an issue when the ball fell to Graeme Shinnie 20 yards out but the Saints keeper saved easily. A neat passing move from the home side ended with Boyd-Munce picking out Elvis Bwomono but his volley found the side netting seconds before he was replaced by McMenamin, Jonah Ayunga replacing Kiltie at the same time.
Boyd-Munce smashed a shot over when the ball broke to him at the edge of the box before Aberdeen threatened again, Killian Phillips volleying over and Bojan Miovski firing a low free-kick straight at Hemming. Mark O'Hara and Richard Taylor replaced Boyd-Munce and Bolton as Robinson threw his final roll of the dice. Midway through four minutes of stoppage time Saints were awarded a free-kick just outside the box when Devlin fouled Olusanya – only for VAR to get involved for a third time. After what seemed like an eternity, it finally decided the foul had been inside the box. Skipper O'Hara was given responsibility from the spot and slotted it away with aplomb.
The lengthy delay meant four minutes of stoppage time was looking like a pipe dream and Saints took full advantage of the extra minutes. McMenamin crossed a ball to the back post for Mandron to head back across and Olusanya got in front of his man to force it into the net. There were limbs in the stands and scenes on the pitch as every player, including Hemming, celebrated an amazing turnaround.
There were still a few minutes to play but mentally Aberdeen were done, some visiting players sinking to the ground at full-time as the Buddies celebrations really got going.
Full-Time: St Mirren 2-1 Aberdeen
By Stuart Gillespie
St Mirren: Hemming, Bolton (Taylor 81), Gogic, Fraser (c), Bwomono (McMenamin 63), Kwon, Boyd-Munce (O'Hara 81), Tanser, Jamieson (Olusanya 46), Mandron, Kiltie (Ayunga 62)
Subs Not Used: Urminsky, Dunne, Brown, Scott
Aberdeen: Roos, Jensen, Gartenmann, MacDonald, Devlin, Barron, Phillips, Shinnie, Hoilett (McGrath 63), Duk (McGarry 64), Miovski
Subs Not Used: Doohan, Milne, Duncan, Clarkson, Polvara, Hayes, Sokler
Referee: Nick Walsh
Assistant Referee: Frank Connor
Assistant Referee: John Stewart
Fourth Official: Calum Scott
VAR: Kevin Clancy
Attendance: 7,019
