St Mirren v Aberdeen

St Mirren 1

FT 90 +4
HT 0-0

Highlights - St Mirren 1-1 Aberdeen

By David McDaid BBC Scotland

St Mirren and Aberdeen shared the points in Paisley in a Scottish Premier League mid-table tussle that only came to life in the second half.

Ryan Jack had the ball in the net at the end of a quiet first period, but the Aberdeen man had strayed offside.

Nigel Hasselbaink ended three goalless matches for St Mirren with a cool finish before the hour mark.

Only 90 second later, Aberdeen's Scott Vernon thumped the ball high past Craig Samson to claim a share of the spoils.

St Mirren had drawn their last three league matches 0-0 and for much of the first half it looked like neither team would be able to alter that trend.

Hasselbaink had a glimpse at goal early on, when Youl Mawene misjudged a high ball ball, but the the Dutchman was caught off guard and could not dig the ball from under his feet in time to test Dons goalkeeper Jason Brown.

For 20 minutes, that was the height of the action until a deep cross from Aberdeen's Rory McArdle found Mitch Megginson arriving at the back post to volley into Craig Samson's arms.

Aberdeen enjoyed a good spell around the half-hour mark, with Kari Arnasen shooting inches wide from the edge of the box then Megginson firing across goal from a difficult angle.

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Graham Carey wasted a free-kick for Saints, blasting it into the wall, while Arnason watched a similar effort squirm wide after a heavy deflection.

Just before the halt-time whistle, Jack thought he had given Aberdeen the lead from close range, but a team-mate's touch on the back-post cross had rendered him just offside.

The Dons had their best chance of the match so far within minutes of the restart.

Lee Mair fluffed a pass-back, allowing Fraser Fyvie to go one-on-one with Samson, but he slipped the ball past the far post when he also had the option of Vernon in a good position.

St Mirren had been growing back into the match and Hasselbaink ended their scoring drought on 57 minutes.

A lovely flick from Steven Thompson set the forward free and he picked his spot inside the far post with a composed finished to record the Buddies' first league goal since 14 January.

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No sooner had the Buddies fans retaken their seats than their team had been pegged back.

A high hopeful ball from Mawene reached Megginson in the box and the teenager laid the ball into the path of Vernon, who stroked it high into Samson's net.

Those goals lifted the tempo of the match and manager Danny Lennon introduced Gary Teale as St Mirren signalled their intention to go for all three points.

Almost straight away, the former Scotland player was a stud's length from converting Carey's dangerous ball across the Dons goal.

With a few minutes remaining, Peter Pawlett had a good chance to score a winner, but the Dons substitute skewed his shot poorly wide and then Teale had a strike at the death that Brown held with ease.

Aberdeen manager Craig Brown : "We'll likely do something daft and beat Celtic and Motherwell in our next two.

"It's not likely, but that's how this league works, that's how we've operated this season.

"We've won games which were unexpected and struggled when we've been expected to win the game. We don't thrive on expectation, unfortunately.

"We had the chances to win the game but didn't take them, again. I think we did enough in the second half.

"Hopefully we'll go to Celtic Park and have one or two of the injured players fit. We've got a very good squad and a lot in the treatment room."

St Mirren manager Danny Lennon : "We scored a wonderful goal, but not to hold on to that for a longer period of time, and not build upon that, was very disappointing.

"Once we scored, we tried to get the ball in to Nigel again and I wondered if maybe we should maybe try and kill the momentum and their excitement.

"As much as they've built themselves up, they need to come back down as quickly and keep their focus.

"Overall, I felt a draw was a fair result and it was a very valuable point."

Lineup, Bookings (7) & Substitutions (5)

St Mirren

01 Samson
02 van Zanten
03 Barron Booked
05 Mair
14 McAusland Booked (Naismith - 46' Booked )
06 Goodwin
23 Carey
27 Imrie Booked
08 Thompson (Teale - 71' )
10 McGowan Booked
11 Hasselbaink (Reilly - 89' )

Substitutes

12 Smith
37 Naismith
07 Murray
15 Mooy
17 Mclean
21 Teale
39 Reilly

Aberdeen

32 Brown
02 McArdle Booked
03 Reynolds
05 Mawene (Fallon - 69' )
06 Considine
11 Arnason
17 Fyvie Booked
22 Jack
28 Rae
09 Vernon
23 Megginson (Pawlett - 81' )

Substitutes

01 Langfield
15 Pawlett
10 Mackie
14 Fallon
18 Chalali
21 Magennis
34 Uchechi

Ref: Mclean

Att: 3,627

Match Stats

Possession 51 49

Shots

6 13

On target

4 5

Corners

7 3

Fouls

14 18

Live Text Commentary

90:00 +3:08 Full time

Full Time The match has reached full-time.

90:00 +2:31

Gary Teale takes a shot. Save by Jason Brown.

90:00 +1:59

Unfair challenge on Paul McGowan by Kari Arnason results in a free kick. Direct free kick taken by Graham Carey.

89:59

Gary Teale is flagged offside by the assistant referee. Free kick taken by Andrew Considine.

89:59

Gary Teale is ruled offside. Jason Brown takes the free kick.

88:41 Substitution

Substitution Thomas Reilly joins the action as a substitute, replacing Nigel Hasselbaink.

87:14

Peter Pawlett produces a left-footed shot from deep inside the penalty area which goes wide of the left-hand post.

85:48

Kari Arnason gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Graham Carey. Direct free kick taken by David Barron.

84:09

Header by Scott Vernon from deep inside the penalty area misses to the left of the goal.

83:43

Direct free kick taken by Fraser Fyvie.

83:43 Booking

Booking David Barron receives a caution.

83:33

Free kick awarded for a foul by David Barron on Rory Fallon.

82:24

Graham Carey takes the outswinging corner, Rory Fallon manages to make a clearance.

80:42 Substitution

Substitution Peter Pawlett replaces Mitchel Megginson.

77:54

Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Jim Goodwin by Rory Fallon. Graham Carey restarts play with the free kick.

76:12

Kari Arnason fires a strike on goal direct from the free kick.

76:12 Booking

Booking Jason Naismith goes into the referee's book.

76:03

Jason Naismith gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Mitchel Megginson.

75:20

Foul by Lee Mair on Rory Fallon, free kick awarded. Free kick taken by Kari Arnason.

74:24

Rory Fallon challenges Paul McGowan unfairly and gives away a free kick. Jason Naismith restarts play with the free kick.

70:29 Substitution

Substitution Gary Teale comes on in place of Steven Thompson.

69:24

Free kick taken by Kari Arnason.

69:24 Booking

Booking Booking for Douglas Imrie for unsporting behaviour.

69:18

Douglas Imrie gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Rory McArdle.

67:43

Mark Reynolds restarts play with the free kick.

67:43 Substitution

Substitution Rory Fallon replaces Youl Mawene.

67:43

Jim Goodwin challenges Fraser Fyvie unfairly and gives away a free kick.

66:56

Shot from just outside the penalty area by David van Zanten misses to the left of the target.

66:27

David Barron restarts play with the free kick.

66:27 Booking

Booking Rory McArdle is shown a yellow card for unsporting behaviour.