17/05/2025 – CELTIC (A)

What a team.

We may have missed out on European football, but there can be little doubt this group of players is one we can justifiably be proud of.

For about an hour on Saturday we had actually done the seemingly impossible and jumped into 5th position.

Aberdeen took an early lead at Tannadice, meaning our 0-0 at Celtic Park at the time was enough to push us over the line. There was a smattering of cheering in the Saints end, but it was too early to get excited at that point.

On the park, Saints contained Celtic with ease. The Glasgow side had the advantage of changing practically their entire team from midweek, as they reverted back to full strength for their “title party”.

Saints didn’t have such luxury, and made one change from our pulsating and demanding match against Hibs a few days earlier, with Mark O’Hara returning from injury to replace Roland Idowu.

On an energy sapping day in the Scottish sunshine, Saints got to work with the usual appetite, closing space down and players throwing their bodies on the line.

Denied a designated water break as the home side refused to facilitate it, players from both sides took every opportunity to rehydrate, but still Saints stood firm with little for Hemming to do as the first half ended all square and Aberdeen still winning at Tannadice.

The match continued in a similar vein into the second half, but out of nowhere Saints masterplan moved into phase two, when Jonah Ayunga beautifully controlled a Scales attempted clearance with his left foot before firing past Kasper Schmeichel from the edge of the box.

As bedlam broke out in the Saints end, the realisation of European became a reality, but it didn’t last long. Within 10 minutes of our goal, Dundee Utd went 2-1 up when ex-Saint Declan Gallagher equalised, and then another former Buddie, Ryan Strain, was “fouled” inside the box and Sam Dalby converted the penalty.

It wasn’t really surprising as Aberdeen had been struggling badly post split, but it was always a long shot and European football had rarely been in our hands for months.

The players battled on at Parkhead, desperate to at least win the game. Last season of course we played the same fixture, and on that day the referee ushered in the “party” as quickly as possible by adding no time whatsoever after Celtic had taken a 3-2 lead after 83 minutes.

With Saints still 1-0 up going into the 90th minute and the “party” flatter than a week old glass of Irn Bru, 5 minutes was added on. It seemed ridiculous at the time to be honest, and sure enough in the penultimate minute of this, Celtic scored a very lucky goal after a defensive mistake.

It mattered not in terms of European football, and the match ended almost immediately with Dundee Utd finishing 4th in their first season back, a fine achievement for Jim Goodwin without doubt, and Aberdeen dropping to 5th position.

And that was that. The players greeted the fans afterwards and the 1000 or so Buddies gave the team a fantastic ovation, not just for their efforts that day, but for a season where they had battled against considerable odds to finish top 6 for a third successive season, probably with the 10th biggest budget in the league.

On the day, probably the effort on Wednesday caught up with the players late on, otherwise they would have seen out a comfortable and deserved win.

We finished the season unbeaten in our last 6 matches, our best form of the season, including the 5 post split games, the first time we have achieved that as a top 6 club. The last time we did do this in either the top or bottom was in 2018/19 under Oran Kearney.

Sadly, as Stephen Robinson alluded to after the match, we now have a rebuild to do as players will leave the club. Calaon Boyd-Munce and Richard Taylor are likley to be amongst those leaving.

Two Robbo signings, and two good players for the club. We thank them both and wish them both well should they chose to leave the club. If they stay, we thank them for choosing even more wisely!

The futures of our loan players Ryan Alebiosu, Roland Idowu and Zach Hemming are unknown. I’m sure we are trying to sign all three, but should they have played their last game for St. Mirren, we also thank them, and again hope they have good careers and remember us fondly.

Stephen Robinson of course, continues to attract attention from elsewhere. No wonder, he’s an absolute miracle worker in our opinion and our best manager probably since Alex Ferguson. We say that without exaggeration.

With every fibre of our being we hope he is still here next season, but whatever happens, here’s to you Stephen Robinson, St Mirren loves you more than you will know.

COYS!

Celtic Players of the Match:

5 points – Alex Gogic

3 points – Marcus Fraser

1 point – Mikael Mandron

Check our the Player of the Season race here –

PLAYER OF THE SEASON