Cynics left eating St Mirren humble pie as top six mission impossible silences ticket critics for good

The way St Mirren's pre-split season finished was not how this minor miracle was supposed to reach its conclusion, but in ways, this chapter had no right being written at all.

April 23rd 2022, a 1-0 defeat against Hibs made it seven defeats from eight in Paisley. Their League Cup campaign ended in a group stage elimination with defeats to Arbroath and Airdrie. They had made a loss of £1.6m in the financial year ending May 2022 and have seen staff made redundant and cuts applied. There were likely some smug smiles from those who laughed at the decision to the cut the away attendance of Celtic and Rangers to one stand. Cutting your nose off to spite your face was a common conclusion as the club looked towards fan ownership. One pundit said in August "I just do not think St Mirren have enough as it stands to avoid the drop," another claiming "the fans could turn early doors".

So when Stephen Robinson's men walked out to a sold-out SMISA stadium at home to Kilmarnock on matchday 33 with a first top six spot firmly in their hands, it felt like a turning point for this club and where it wants to go longer-term. That's not to forget the visitors' part in all of this. They had taken just two points away from home all season prior to this collision and needed to crash the party to ensure a celebratory survival bash had hopes of going ahead come May, and yet their end was full to the brim.

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Let's rewind slightly to 1hr and 15 minutes before kick-off. The streets were quiet but already that air of anticipation was there, on both sides. That big game feeling of hope rather than praying for relief became evident at a