McGrath penalty hands St Mirren all three points against unfortunate Ross County in Paisley
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St Mirren 1 (McGrath)
Ross County 0
Ross County will count themselves unlucky to be leaving Paisley empty handed.
A change of shape at half time saw them come to life, and after hitting the woodwork twice and having another effort cleared off the line, it took a penalty to see them off.
Jamie McGrath was the man to convert the spot kick, but with County adamant it should not have been given frustration reigned supreme at the full time whistle.
Through much of the first half, the Staggies never really got going – in part due to several injury stoppages although thankfully no substitutions were required, but also because of the pressure they were put under.
St Mirren's pressing was making it difficult for them to keep possession past the half way line, with free options significantly limited on the occasions they managed to pass their way around St Mirren's forwards – including former Staggies attacker Lee Erwin.
That left the hosts to have the better opportunities in front of goal, although Ross Laidlaw was not particularly troubled for the most part either.
Just as the half-hour mark approached, the goalkeeper was forced into a brilliant reaction stop to deny Conor McCarthy scoring with his head.
The defender had connected with Kyle McAllister's free kick only a handful of yards from goal, but Laidlaw was able to change direction and get a strong hand to the ball to push it away from the danger zone.
John Hughes tried to change things at the break by making a triple substitution, bring on Coll Donaldson, Alex Iacovitti and Oli Shaw and switching to a 3–5–2.
That nearly paid dividends just minutes after the restart, with Jason Naismith freed up to get further forward as a wing back.
He got in behind his marker and sent a cross into the middle, where Jordan White's header was tipped on to the underside of the crossbar by Jak Alnwick.
It dropped down, but was only half cleared by St Mirren, with the ball going straight to Stephen Kelly to shoot from range and also hit the bar.
County were once again denied by a goalline clearance with just over 15 minutes left.
Harry Paton's corner was met by Iacovitti, but the ball was cleared away by Cameron Macpherson before it could go into the net.
Although it looked like County were in the ascendancy though, it was St Mirren who broke the deadlock in the 82nd minute.
Leo Hjelde was deemed to have fouled Collin Quanar in a controversial decision, with the Staggies furious that Greg Aitken pointed to the spot.
Unable to change the decision though, it was left to Jamie McGrath to send Laidlaw the wrong way at put the Buddies ahead.
