cinch PREMIERSHIP
16th March 2024
Rugby Park, Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock 5-2 St. Mirren
DUNNE 20
MANDRON 39
Vassell 61
Armstrong 65 (pen)
Watkins 68
Vassell 73
Watson 79
ATT: 8,460 (2,481 Saints fans)
Referee: R Hardie
VAR:
- In what was a crucial pre-split match between 4th and 5th position in the league, Saints travelled to Kilmarnock determined to build on their 1 point lead over the Ayrshire side, backed by 2,500 fans who had made the trip.
- Stephen Robinson makes several changes from the previous match, with in-form midfielder Kwon curiously missing out and replaced with skipper Mark O’Hara for his first start since December.
- Injuries had denied both James Bolton and Elvis Bwomono a place in the squad, with Ryan Flynn and Charles Dunne surprisingly chosen over Brown and Taylor for rare starting places. Conor McMenamin was the final change, replacing Lewis Jamieson.
- Despite these changes, Saints were utterly dominant in the first half, scoring twice and looking extremely comfortable as the home side struggled to cope the visitors, in particular from cross balls and set pieces, with the latter providing both goals, one for Dunne who netted his first goal for the club and a 10th of the season for Mikael Mandron.
- Saints looked to have weathered any Kilmarnock onslaught in the opening period of the 2nd half, in fact Mandron missed the best chance of this period when he scuffed wide from 8 yards with the goal at this mercy, and this was to prove crucial as a short period of complacency followed which was ruthlessly punished by Kilmarnock.
- Darius Vassell pulled one back for the home side after 61 minutes following some poor and indecisive defending, and within 18 minutes, Kilmarnock scored a further 4 times to win a match Saints seemed to have comfortably already won after an hour.
- As well as being arguably the poorest 18 minutes ever played in the history of the club, this capitulation denied Saints a guaranteed top 6 place with 3 matches to spare, and dropped the side to 5th.