St Mirren Maintain Top Spot with Phillips' Penalty
Killian Phillips kept his nerve and St Mirren kept their place at the top.
On another tense Saturday night in Paisley, the midfielder’s second-half penalty was enough to edge out St Johnstone and make it two wins from two in the William Hill Premiership for Craig McLeish’s side.
This wasn’t free-flowing. It was fraught, bitty, and occasionally frantic. It was also exactly the kind of game that tells you something about a team’s backbone.
Phillips delivers, again
Seven days after opening his league campaign with a double at Falkirk, Phillips delivered the decisive moment here, rolling home from the spot on 73 minutes with the calm of a player who has already decided how his season is going to look.
The chance came from the sort of lapse that haunts goalkeepers. Declan John clipped a forward pass down the left channel that should have been routine for Toby Steward. The St Johnstone keeper shaped to collect, unaware of the darting run of Samuel Ramos. As Ramos cut across him, Steward clattered into the midfielder. Penalty, without argument.
Phillips barely took a run-up. Steward dived one way, the ball went the other, and the home crowd exhaled as St Mirren seized control of a match that had hung in the balance.
Chapman’s big moment
If Phillips supplied the winner, Jacob Chapman made sure it mattered.
Just after half-time, with the game still goalless and St Johnstone growing into the contest, VAR intervened. A throw-in hurled into the box caused chaos, Alex Gogic was judged to have handled while competing, and referee Ross Hardie pointed to the spot after a review.
Jamie Gullan stepped up, looking to continue the Perth side’s own positive start to the campaign. Chapman guessed left and got there with conviction, pushing the penalty away and igniting a roar that felt like a turning point.
St Johnstone would not get a better chance.
Tight margins in a tense first half
Both clubs had opened their Premiership seasons with victories, and the first 45 minutes reflected that shared confidence. The game was even, cagey, decided by half-chances and hurried clearances rather than clear-cut opportunities.
The one genuine opening fell to Ramos. Chris Mochrie swung in a measured cross from the right and Ramos met it firmly, but his header went straight at Steward. The keeper could only push the ball up into the air, sparking a scramble in the six-yard box that St Johnstone eventually hacked clear.
There was an early blow for the hosts when Marcus Fraser limped off, forcing McLeish to reshuffle, with Liam Donnelly dropping into centre-back. St Mirren, though, held their shape and their discipline.
At the other end, Gullan tried to atone for his miss from the spot by turning provider, slipping a neat pass into the path of Matty Foulds. The left-back drove onto it on the run but dragged his shot just wide of the far post.
McLeish’s changes bite, then Phillips strikes
McLeish rolled the dice with a double substitution as the second half wore on, and it almost paid off immediately. Luke Thomas burst down the left and fed Jake Young, who cut in and bore down on goal. Cheick Diabate tracked him and there was a tangle as Young got his shot away, the effort skewing wide of the far post. Appeals were brief; the chance was gone.
The pressure down that same flank would eventually tell. St Mirren pinned St Johnstone back on the left, forcing errors, forcing clearances, forcing the visitors to defend deeper and deeper. From that territorial squeeze came the moment when Steward misjudged John’s pass and Ramos nipped in, drawing the foul and the penalty that Phillips buried.
St Johnstone almost hit back instantly. From a corner, Diabate rose highest and thumped a header off the post, Chapman beaten. It was a warning that the points were far from safe.
Late scares and a statement at the top
The closing stages were anything but comfortable for the league leaders.
St Mirren, sensing a second goal that would kill the contest, saw a flurry of shots blocked on the edge of the box as white shirts threw themselves in front of everything. That commitment from St Johnstone nearly paid off on the break.
Ruari Paton sprang forward and slid Gullan through on goal. It was the moment for the former Hibernian striker to erase the memory of his earlier penalty miss. Instead, he hesitated. His finish lacked conviction and a scrambling combination of Steward and Ryan Carr smothered the danger.
The visitors kept coming. Deep into stoppage time they pushed bodies forward, slinging balls into the area, asking questions. But every time they over-committed, St Mirren were ready to break. Young again surged clear and forced a save at the other end, nudging the game back into the territory where McLeish’s side could see it out.
They did exactly that, closing the match in St Johnstone’s half, playing the clock, playing the situation, playing like a team that intends to stay where it is in the table.
Two games. Two wins. A penalty saved, a penalty scored, and a sense that St Mirren are learning how to live with the view from the top.
