St Mirren battle back for draw and edge Spartans on penalties in Betfred Cup

Posted Wednesday, July 18, 2018 by PA

St Mirren enjoyed more penalty shootout success as they avoided a humiliating Betfred Cup defeat to minnows Spartans on Tuesday evening.

Alan Stubbs had been hoping to make an impression on his first home outing as Saints boss, but goals from Jason Stevens and Scott Maxwell early in either half gave the Lowland League champions a shock lead.

St Mirren skipper Stephen McGinn pulled a goal back just after the hour mark and a Danny Mullen penalty sealed a 2-2 draw, with the Buddies – who opened their Group H campaign with a win courtesy of spot-kicks over Kilmarnock – going on to claim another bonus point as Blair Atkinson proved to be Spartans’ fall guy.

Spartans travelled west without boss Dougie Samuel after he suffered a heart attack last week.

The part-timers’ chief has since been given the all-clear to leave hospital and his side did their best to hand him a get-well-soon gift as they grabbed a surprise opener.

There was just six minutes on the clock as Stevens and Jack Smith combined on the edge of the Saints’ box.

The Buddies’ defence stopped playing when linesman David Burns raised his flag for offside but referee Alan Newlands overruled his assistant and Stevens did not hang about, running on to ram a deflected strike past debutant goalkeeper Danny Rogers.

Things went from bad to worse for Saints 10 minutes into the second period when on-loan Aberdeen keeper Rogers raced off his line to clear a Jack Smith through-ball, only to see Maxwell knock it back over his head into the empty net.

Stubbs immediately sent on rested skipper McGinn, who handed his side an instant lifeline by rifling home in the 59th minute from a Jeff King corner.

Hayden Coulson almost squared it up when he rattled the crossbar with a free-kick, but the hosts did level with 15 minutes left. Michael Herd hauled down Ryan Flynn in the box, and Mullen smashed home from the spot.

Saints laid siege to the visitors’ goal late on but found themselves foiled time and again by Spartans’ heroic goalkeeper Blair Carswell.

However, Carswell could not get near any of the Buddies’ spot-kicks as his side lost out 5-3 following Atkinson’s wild miss.