St Johnstone earned a point in Paisley with a dramatic, late, late equaliser.
Deep into injury time, 2-1 down and playing with 10 men, Ali Crawford sent a hopeful cross into the penalty box that Nicky Clark finished off with an acrobatic overhead kick into the bottom right hand corner of Trevor Carson’s net.
The Perth side had benefited from a VAR penalty award to open the scoring through a Graham Carey penalty but were on the wrong end of another moment of outside intervention when Alex Mitchell had a yellow card upgraded to red just after the hour mark.
The sending off looked like being the game-changer, as 10-man Saints, then drawing 1-1, were subsequently hit by a stunning late, Mark O’Hara winner.
Not as stunning as Clark’s goal that followed, though.
Courier Sport picks out four talking points from Paisley.
Wind, rain and a wonder-strike winner
The conditions were awful for a game of football.
Driving rain made it a tough task for Saints in the first half when it was into their faces.
If you put aside the fact they got themselves a goal in front and the frustration at the manner and timing of St Mirren’s equaliser, being level at the break was perfectly acceptable.
The wind was helping Saints take control after the re-start before Mitchell’s red card and from that point it was undoubtedly a case of ‘what we have we try to hold’.
Trading spectacular goals was quite the way to finish a contest that understandably wasn’t one for purists.
These were two very evenly matched teams and I would expect it to stay that way for the duration of the season.
VAR part one
The penalty award that led to Saints’ opener will get thrown into the pot with all the other VAR handball controversies that have quickly become a recurring theme in the Premiership.
It shouldn’t, though.
Despite the fury of the St Mirren fans, there was no real controversy whatsoever.
Drey Wright’s cross clearly came off Scott Tanser’s arm and that arm was well away from his body, with his back half-turned.
It was poor one v one defending.
Stonewaller pic.twitter.com/2kPXnO23fs
— Ewan McBryde (@ewan_mcbryde) November 9, 2022
The biggest error was neither referee Euan Anderson nor his assistant spotting it in real time.
You can argue about the rule and the need for it to change but this was a VAR success story.
VAR part two
Now this one is a bit more controversial.
When Mitchell slides to keep possession after a centre-half’s touch he takes the ball cleanly.
You can understand why Anderson only produced his yellow card when Greg Kiltie went down as a result of the follow-through.
Some would say that was actually too harsh.
But the boot was shin high and that is the sort of challenge a VAR official, Mike Roncone in this instance, will upgrade to red more often than not, particularly when Scottish football doesn’t have as many camera angles as down south.
As good as a win
The winning run is over but try wiping the smiles off the faces of the Saints’ players and the 473 supporters who mobbed them behind the goal after Clark’s overhead finish.
This result can definitely be put in the ‘like a victory’ category.
Everything was going against Saints in the second half and there looked to be little prospect of an equaliser.
But Callum Davidson’s team don’t subscribe to the ‘one of those nights’ theory.
Digging out a draw when all hope appeared lost is the mark of a side on the up.
The Perth momentum continues.
A win against Motherwell on Saturday will make it a superb opening stage of the season.
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