St Mirren 1
Dundee Utd 1
League (Premier Division)

Match Report

St. Mirren were obviously in buoyant mood following their win at Ibrox and we again went into this match without the services of Billy McKinlay, and Duncan Ferguson was also ruled out because of a broken bone in his hand. Saints made a sprightiy opening with Dave Narey blocking a Charnley shot after Broddle had created the opening. It was the start of a fast and furious game and in the 11th minute we almost took the lead when Elliot screwed his clearance against the bar following a Ray McKinnon corner. Saints came back and Guido Van De Kamp had to react quickly to hold an Alan Irvine shot at the second attempt to prevent Elliot from scoring. The pace of the game was brightening up a very grey Paisley afternoon and Darren Jackson shot wide after a neat exchange between Victor Ferreyra and Darren Jackson. The breakthrough almost came in the 34th minute when we struck the woodwork for a second time when Mixu Paatelainen stabbed the ball against the base of the post after the Finn ran on to throughball.

The pace of the game showed no signs of slackening in the second half and eight minutes into the second half Saints went ahead when Julian Broddle pounced on a Guido Van De Kamp throw out which was intended for Jim McInally. The Englishman strode forward to drill the ball into the far corner from around 25 yards. Five minutes later Saints missed a golden opportunity to tie up the match. Alan Irvine, looking suspiciously off-side, ran through, did all the hard work, rounding Guido Van De Kamp, only to strike the same spot on the post as Mixu Paatelainen had hit in the first half, but in the former United striker's case the goal was at his mercy. The end-to-end stuff continued and Andy McLaren replaced Ray McKinnon in the 72nd minute, but it was our second substitution ten minutes later that was to reap instant reward.
Alex Cleland came on for Dave Bowman and made an instant impact. Victor Ferreyra crossed from the right from which Mixu Paatelainen got in a shot which Money could only parry and Alex Cleland ran in to nod the ball home from close range to equalise with his very first touch of the match and score his first goal of the season. Neither side could summon up a winner in the last seven minutes so we had to be content with a point which stretched our unbeaten run away from home to four matches.