UEFA CUP WINNERS CUP 2nd Round, 2nd Leg
4th November 1987
St. Mirren Park, Paisley
St. Mirren 0-2 Mechelen
Ohana 33 
Ohana 49
ATT: 14,368
Referee: E Halle (Norway)
- With just a home win separating St Mirren from the Quarter Finals of the European Cup Winners Cup, a record crowd for a European tie of just under 15,000 turns out to try and roar the Paisley men to success, but their heroes were second best all match to an underrated and fine Belgian side, who would win 2-0.
- The ‘favourites tag’ afforded to Saints beforehand was perhaps naivety on behalf of the media, and once injuries and unavailable players for the home side were considered, even before a ball was kicked the Paisley men were up against it.
- With both natural left sided defenders Derek Hamilton and David Winnie out injured, Tommy Wilson had to fill in at left back as Robert Dawson came in on the right side. Dawson’s former Stirling Albion teammate Keith Walker deputised for the suspended Ian Ferguson, with both players only turning professional a few months beforehand. Paul Chalmers started in attack with Frank McGarvey still unavailable due to personal reasons.
- Mechelen on the other hand were missing suspended captain and Belgian international Lei Clijsters, however they still started the match with seven capped players, and the gulf in class was evident for much of the match, particularly with Israeli winger Eli Ohana giving Dawson a torrid time throughout the game.
- Ohana would in fact net twice, 12 minutes before half time and a few minutes after, with the first strike a fine solo goal and the second a tap in after the ball hit the post. These were the only goals Saints would lose in the entire tournament at the end of their 4 matches played, but they were more than enough to sink the dream of Saints playing in the last 8.
- The Belgians would go onto win the tournament at the end of the season, and eventually 12 of their squad that played against Saints would be international players, with a total of 254 caps gained over the next decade. It was no disgrace losing to the Belgians, but the disappointment was still high, especially during a period when smaller Scottish clubs reaching the latter stages of European tournaments was far from being a fantasy.
TEAM LINEUPS
| ST. MIRREN | NO | MECHELEN |
|---|---|---|
| MONEY Campbell | 1 | PREUD’HOMME Michel |
| DAWSON Robert | 2 | DE MESMAEKER Paul |
| WILSON Tommy | 3 | JASPERS Raymond |
| FITZPATRICK Tony | 4 | SANDERS Koen |
| GODFREY Peter | 5 | RUTJES Graeme |
| COOPER Neil | 6 | HOFKENS Wim  |
| LAMBERT Paul | 7 | OHANA Eli |
WALKER Keith  63 | 8 | THEUNIS Paul |
| CHALMERS Paul | 9 | CLUYTENS Bert |
| McDOWALL Kenny 63 | 10 | KOEMAN Erwin |
| CAMERON Ian | 11 | DEN BOER Piet |
HAMILTON Brian  63 | 12 | DE WILDE Pascal |
| SHAW George 63 | 13 | DE GREEF Yves (GK) |
| GALLAGHER Brian | 14 | DE NIL Alain |
| BUTLER John | 15 | EMMERS Marc |
| FRIDGE Les (GK) | 16 | DROUGUET Pierre |
THE MATCH
