St Mirren were narrowly beaten by Motherwell in a controversial William Hill Premiership match at Fir Park.
Lennon Miller's first-half double saw Motherwell win 2-1 after Killian Phillips' goal had given Saints an early lead. But the game was marred by controversy with questions over Motherwell's goals and both sides being reduced to 10 men in the second-half.
Scott Tanser and Elvis Bwomono came into the start 11 in the only changes from last weekend's win over Hearts at The SMiSA Stadium. The manager was also able to welcome Greg Kiltie back into the squad for the first time this season after recovering from an ankle injury. He took his place on the bench.
The Buddies hit the front with just 10 minutes on the clock. Phillips brilliantly brought down a pinpoint cross from Bwomono and half-volleyed low into the left-hand corner of the net to score his first goal for Saints.
Killian Phillips celebrates after opening the scoring at Fir Park (Image: John Millar)
Motherwell looks to respond quickly and could have drawn level four minutes after the opener. Moses Ebiye intercepted Mark O'Hara's pass intended for Alex Gogic and raced away from the Cypriot defender but fired into the side netting.
The hosts would equalise on 19 minutes when Marcus Fraser was adjudged to have fouled Dan Casey at a corner kick. There was bemusement amongst the Saints players about the decision, with Fraser subsequently booked for the infringement. Miller made no mistake as he fired home from 12 yards to restore parity.
Toyosi Olusanya was close to putting Saints back in front soon after as he looked for his fourth goal in as many games. The forward was picked out by Phillips, but he clipped into the side net as he looked to lift it over 'Well stopper Aston Oxborough.
Mikael Mandron was agonisingly close to putting the Buddies 2-1 ahead on 33 minutes. O'Hara's corner to the back post was helped back across goal by Richard Taylor but Mandron just couldn't get the connection required to take the ball over the line.
Motherwell took the lead in the final minute of regulation time at the end of the half when Miller scored his second. Controversy surrounded the goal with the Steelmen midfielder appearing to have handled the ball before finishing low into the net.
There were eight added minutes at the end of the half and Saints would have gone in level at half-time if not for a top class save from Oxborough as he got a strong hand to claw away Phillips' header in injury-time.
The drama continued early in the second-half when 'Well defender Dan Casey was shown a straight red card for denying a goalscoring opportunity. Phillips was poised to equalise from close-range, but saw his effort he blocked by the hand of Casey who was given his marching orders. Saints were awarded a penalty, but O'Hara's spot kick was saved by Oxborough following a lengthy wait as VAR checked on the decision.
The man advantage would only last around 15 minutes when referee Lloyd Wilson showed Scott Tanser a second yellow card. It looked to be an incredibly harsh decision with questions over whether Tanser had even fouled the Motherwell man.
Stephen Robinson made five substitutes as Saints tried to find an equaliser. But despite the Buddies seeing almost all of the ball, it was the home side who came close to wrapping things up in the final minute of normal time. Substitute Apostolos Stamatelopoulos met a cross but saw his header brilliantly pushed away by Ellery Balcombe.
Full-Time: Motherwell 2-1 St Mirren
St Mirren: Balcombe, Fraser, Gogic, R.Taylor, Bwomono (Brown 66), Phillips, Boyd-Munce (Idowu 74), O'Hara (c) (Kiltie 85), Tanser, Mandron (Van Veen 66), Olusanya (Scott 74)
Subs Not Used: Urminsky, Dunne, Smyth, Ayunga
Motherwell: Oxborough, O'Donnell (Kaleta 71), Casey, Gordon, McGinn, Wilson, Zdravkovski (Sparrow 84), Halliday (Watt 71), Miller, Ebiye (Balmer 51), Robinson (Stamatelopoulos 71)
Subs Not Used: Hegyi, Seddon, Maswanhise, Tavares
Referee: Lloyd Wilson
Assistant Referee: Ross Macleod
Assistant Referee: Gordon Crawford
Fourth Official: Gavin Duncan
VAR: Greg Aitken
Manager Reaction
Watch manager Stephen Robinson's reaction to our 2-1 loss to Motherwell.
