Late goal goes against Ross County as they fall to St Mirren defeat
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St Mirren 2 (McLoughlin, Foley)
Ross County 1 (Graham)
A lack of quality in the final third threatened to scupper any hopes St Mirren and Ross County had of claiming victory in Paisley, only for Sam Foley to pop up with a thumping late winner.
It was at times frenetic, with both sides clearly going for the win, but even though Brian Graham had put the Staggies in front the hosts would end the match good value for all three points.
The game started off at a frantic pace, with both sides having chances going forward but mostly unable to work the respective goalkeepers.
Counter attack was the name of the game for County, with Josh Mullin putting in the yards on the left flank on several occasions as the Staggies burst forward.
The final ball was mostly lacking from both teams, and it would turn out to be individual skill that could have put The Buddies in front – and eventually did put County ahead.
Jon Obika used his pace to speed past Liam Fontaine on St Mirren's right wing, but when the experienced defender got back in position as Obika surged into the box a clever dummy opened up space for the striker.
He was at an angle, but close enough to think he could find the net, only to blaze his shot a long way over the ball.
Brian Graham would put the visitors in front in the 24th minute though to give County the advantage.
The target man took in a pass from the left and appeared to be looking for options to his right, before a sublime bit of skill lost his marker and won a yard on the edge of the box.
There was still some work to be done, but Graham followed his trickery up with an equally impressive finish with the outside of his right foot into the bottom corner of the net.
St Mirren tried to respond, but the next clear chance fell to Billy Mckay.
After a couple of aerial duels, Graham flicked the ball forward for the Northern Irish forward, who had made a clever run off the shoulder of the home defence.
With his weaker foot, Mckay shot low towards the far corner, but Vaclav Hladky dove to his left to make the save.
The hosts did have a chance to level before the interval when Danny Mullen broke the offside trap to run into the box, but after pressure from the recovering defenders he sliced his effort high and wide.
A goal would come for St Mirren though, after a penalty box scramble right on the stroke of half time.
County just could not clear the ball, and when Ryan Flynn went down St Mirren appealed for a penalty – only for Sean McLoughlin to roll the ball into the bottom corner to take the question out of the referee's hands.
Perhaps buoyed by their equaliser, it was St Mirren who looked the brighter side at the start of the second half, but once again that final ball was not good enough to cause Nathan Baxter in the County goal any trouble.
They were the team putting crosses into the opposition box, while County barely managed an effort at goal after the restart.
Obika was proving so tricky to handle that both Staggies centre backs – Fontaine and Callum Morris – went into the book for bringing him down.
St Mirren's dominance in the territory stakes paid off in terms of being able to bombard the County penalty area with corners and free kicks, but they struggled to make one count.
County, so often benefitting from late goals in this campaign, nearly regained the lead with just five minutes left on the clock.
Blair Spittal put a dangerous cross in towards the back post that Lee Erwin kept in, forcing it goalwards, only for McLoughlin to clear it off his own line.
Then, as the clock continued to tick down, St Mirren got the goal that would give them all three points.
Sam Foley picked up the ball 25 yards out from goal, and unleashed an unstoppable effort towards the top corner, clipping the underside of the crossbar on its way in leaving Baxter with no chance.
