St Johnstone 1 St Mirren 0: Chris Kane nets dramatic late winner for Perth Saints

Christmas is fast approaching and it appeared neither of the Saints were in the mood to hand out gifts at McDiarmid Park on Wednesday evening.

But a late, late clincher secured the home team a valuable three points to lift them to 10th in the Scottish Premiership and level with Saturday's opponents Motherwell.

Substitute Chris Kane was the man to provide the winning moment after bundling a penalty rebound over the line after his initial attempt had been saved deep into stoppage time.

It sparked wild celebrations in the stands and Kane himself savoured the occasion by leaping into the arms of East Stand supporters.

Max Kucheriavyi’s evening was over before the clock had reached 10 minutes.

He had been involved in a collision earlier in the contest when putting in the defence work and was unable to shake off the issue. His replacement was Sven Sprangler.

Neither side had really looked threatening until this point before the first meaningful opportunity presented itself in the 19th minute.

That was when Tony Gallacher - in for a rare start - clipped a beautiful cross into the danger zone. All it needed was the touch of a Perth boot but nobody had gambled.

The ball was, however, recycled for Matt Smith at the edge of the box who guided wide of the mark with an effort never troubling Zach Hemming.

Saints had been popping it around rather neatly but were almost the masters of their own downfall in the 24th minute when Dan Phillips gifted possession deep in his territory.

Thankfully Sprangler had sensed danger was imminent and raced back in to impressively block Jonah Ayunga’s shot from close-range. Sprangler celebrated the intervention.

The home support was almost celebrating an opener as the half hour mark was reached