Motherwell kicked off fielding an unchanged eleven with their back to the cheers of a vocal away support. The early exchanges were pretty even and both teams had speculative efforts fly high over the bar. We came close with a couple of set pieces as the 15 mark came near. Gow’s 30 yard effort had Samson tipping over and within a minute he was hauled down on the ‘D’. This time Hateley had a go and his shot rattled the ‘keepers’ right hand post.
The game ebbed and flowed without troubling either ‘keeper. Saints had a decent spell and forced a few corners but we countered with some composed passing without threatening. There were a couple of booking for the home side (McLean and Higdon) as the game became physical and Reynolds was correctly cautioned for a ‘professional foul’.
St Mirren took the lead following a corner on our left. McGowan collected and delivered a fine cross that enabled Wardlaw to rise and glance a header into the far corner. At the break we were one down.
The home crowd were in fine voice as they urged Saints to kill the game with a second and in the first half of the second period that seemed likely. We had to withstand a few scary moments and after an hour Sutton came on for Murphy.
We survived again when a Higdon free kick took a slight deflection off the defensive wall and only Randolph’s quick reflexes allowed the stop with his feet. Gow produced a fine pass inside the full back to release Humphrey. The cut back from the dead ball line gave Jennings a chance but his side footed shot was wide.
Sunders came off as Forbes was introduced and minutes later we were level. Blackman collected at the edge of the box under pressure but he managed a turn and thundered the ball high into the net. It was a superb strike.
It was time for the away fans to find their voice and we chased for another goal. It almost came when Gow played a one-two inside the box and just missed the far post with his shot. Higdon got his second yellow of the afternoon after a foul on Craigan with five minutes remaining.
Despite a lively finish that included a long range effort from Forbes the home team held on and the game finished 1-1. No complaints, but we drop to fifth.