31/08/2025 – HIBS (A)

With the final whistle at Easter Road on Sunday, the first batch of fixtures before the maiden international break of the 2025/26 season were consigned to history, with Saints picking up 3 points from 4 league matches.

Looking at this in isolation, it seems a pretty meagre return, however St Mirren faced the toughest start of any club in the division, with the top 3 from last season all played, including 2 of those away from home.

However, we come out of it with just one defeat and a goal difference of -1, thanks to a ridiculously unlucky goal conceded late at Parkhead, as well as a place in the Quarter Final of the League Cup after knocking out the much vaunted 2029 Champions League winners, Hearts.

We’ve had worse starts that for sure, but the performances of the side in these matches should give us all great optimism for the season ahead, as nobody has outplayed us and we’ve looked every inch what we are; a top six side.

This form was continued in Leith against a very good Hibs side, and the 1-1 draw may have ended Saints run of 3 wins at Easter Road, but it extends our unbeaten sequence against the Hibees to 8 games.

It was a good game, with both sides looking to win, however it was littered with missed chances and what should have beens, as poor final decisions cost each side more goals.

Junior Hoilett rattled the bar early on for the hosts when in truth he should have scored, which was followed by Ayunga bringing out a splendid save from Smith in the Hibs goal following great play from Richardson and Mandron.

Killian Phillips then went off with suspected concussion and was replaced with Richard King, meaning Alex Gogic stepped into midfield. Despite the loss of the Irish internationalist however, Saints battled diligently for the opener.

We had strong claims for a penalty early in the second half when Ayunga appeared to be impeded in going for a Declan John cross, but surprisingly VAR didn’t even look at it and all we got was a corner.

The opener wasn’t far away, however, when Saints took advantage of a dominant spell, as Miguel Freckleton opened his account for the club when he broke the offside trap from a John free kick, and let the awkward bouncing ball hit him, diverting it beyond Smith and into the far corner.

This was just after the hour mark, but the lead didn’t last long when Rocky Bushiri bundled home at the back post from a corner after 70 minutes………..the 5th goal we have lost from corner kicks this season already.

From here, we could have won it. Twice Jayden Richardson brilliantly got behind his man inside the penalty box to create real chanes.. The first time, he overcooked his pass to Mandron who would have had a tap in, and the second time he elected to lob the keeper, but Grant Hanley cleared off the line.

Equally though, we could have lost it. Hibs also carved out good chances, with Nicky Cadden causing havoc with his crosses, and only some superb defensive work kept the home side at bay.

With the game closing out, one last chance fell to Hibs, but Jayden Richardson blocked the shot and George picked up the loose ball, however 15,000 home shouts of “handball” suggested this was going to VAR, and after the full time whistle blew seconds later, the wait began.

Eventually, it was decided by VAR that it was not a penalty, and the game finished 1-1, but Hibs were not happy.

Having watched it back on TV, it was a 50/50 call in our opinion. The ball definitely hits Richardson’s hand, but it was probably heading for his chest and it was hit at close range. Technically, it’s therefore not a penalty.

However………if the referee blew for a penalty, we don’t think there is anyway it would be overturned by VAR as it wouldn’t be a clear mistake.

As we know better than most, sometimes VAR goes for you and sometimes it goes against you. Well, mostly goes against us, so we welcome the process finally evening out!

Enjoy the international break, if it’s your thing. Our next match is at Falkirk and is already sold out, 700 Saints fans hopefully cheering us on to our first league victory of the season!

COYS!

Hibs Players of the Match:

5 points – Miguel Freckleton

3 points – Marcus Fraser

1 point – Richard King

Check our the Player of the Season race here –

PLAYER OF THE SEASON 2025/26