There was not a lot of quality football on show and both managers will be of the view that defensive lapses caused most of the goals but that only served to produce a nailbiting second half that ended with a standing ovation for both teams.
We didn't look good in the first half. St Mirren pressed hard and we found it impossible to make much progress into their half. For long spells they were camped close to our goal and few were surprised when we lost the opener.
'Well fans in Paisley
The disruption to the back four caused by Hammell's absence might have been the cause of our problem. Reynolds was competent enough at left back but he never looked comfortable and we missed the contribution that Hammell gives going forward. Craigan 's no-nonsense instincts don't fit easily into Gannon's preferred style and, again, he looked uncomfortable when trying to find a pass.
The half time switch was a declaration of intent from the manager. Coke off and Humphrey on resulted in a 4-2-4 shape at times and combined with an urgency that was missing in the opening period there was a guarantee that goals would come. There were five. Forbes took his penalty well and there was delight at Lukas' double.
Both managers will be busy in the next couple of days platting their tactics for the CIS cup game on Tuesday. There will be a few bumps and bruised consider and it might be that some changes of personnel are forced. There was a bit of a scare when Saunders had to be taken off before the game could be restarted following our equalising penalty. He had taken a head knock in the opposition box before the spot kick was awarded and the effect was delayed. After the match Gannon suggested that he had recovered with no ill effect. Jutkiewicz had to have a cut on his instep stitched but he should be available.
We've maintained our two point gap over the Saints, kept our top six spot and now lost only one of the nine SPL games. Not bad when we were not at our best.
Can you remember Motherwell's last 3-3 draw?