kilmarnock

11/05/2024 – KILMARNOCK (H)

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cinch PREMIERSHIP
11th May 2024
SMISA Stadium, Paisley

St. Mirren 0-1 Kilmarnock

Vassell 37

ATT: 7,654


Referee: E Anderson
VAR: G Aitken

  • The home side miss out on a chance to qualify automatically for European football after losing 1-0 to Kilmarnock, however with Dundee going down 3-0 at Tynecastle and only 2 matches remaining, Saints actually strengthen their hold on 5th place as the goal difference is now 2 better off than at the start of the day.
  • In what was a scrappy and error strewn match, Kilmarnock seize on poor play between Fraser and Tanser to break quickly on Saints and score the only goal, with Vassell smashing home Watkins cutback after 37 minutes.
  • Saints give plenty of effort get back into the match, with Olusnaya the main threat and he cracks a shot from the edge of the box off the bar, but in general Saints attacking play is predictable and laborious and Killie see off the threat fairly comfortable.
  • This defeat extends Saints absurd record against Derek McInnes as a manager, with just 1 league win in 32 matches over 3 clubs, and no wins in 7 against Kilmarnock since he became boss at the Ayrshire club.

No,PlayerRating
1Zach Hemming7
23Ryan Strain 676
2James Bolton 837
13Alex Gogic6
22Marcus Fraser6
3Scott Tanser 676
6Mark O’Hara7
15Caolan Boyd-Munce 676
10Conor McMenamin7
20Toyosi Olusanya7
SUBS
9Mikael Mandron6
17Keanu Baccus 677
14James Scott 676
24Lewis Jamieson 676
5Richard Taylor 836

16/03/2024 (Kilmarnock A)

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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.