Marcus Fraser’s close-range volley kept St Mirren in the William Hill Premiership as the Buddies beat Partick Thistle 1-0 in the play-off final.
The defender scored from a set-piece 20 minutes into the second half to secure a 2-1 aggregate win and extend the Paisley side’s stay in the top division for eight years.
Thistle had the better chance in the first half to equalize, but Saints goalkeeper Ross Sinclair came close to stopping Logan Chalmers’ powerful free-kick.
Fraser is congratulating the winner
Sinclair and Fraser proved to be Buddies’ unexpected saviors. The goalkeeper arrived on loan from St Johnstone last month after injuries to Shamal George and Ryan Mullen, while Fraser played against medical advice after being out for the season with a shoulder injury.
Championship runners-up Thistle will need to regroup after failing for the fifth time in a row to gain promotion via the play-offs and suffering a second final defeat in that competition.
Will McLeish have a full-time job?
st mirren interim director Craig McLeish to sky sports:
“I’m happy for the fans and the players. As a club we should never be in this position. We had to dig deep and get out. The game was a game, it was frivolous and anxious. It was a game of mistakes and it was about who would take advantage of the moment. We did that.
“We have to prepare for next season and make sure something like this doesn’t happen again. “I’m glad to get out of here, but I never want to be here again.
“It doesn’t matter how we did it, we just had to get over the line and we’ve done that at key moments all season.
“Of course (I want the job), everyone knows it now. I’m fine with whatever the club decides to do. I have no control over that decision. I intervened in difficult moments for the club. I did everything we could to stay in the league. That was my remit when I took on that role.”
Wilson: It’s brutal, it’s raw, it’s painful.
Partick Thistle head coach mark wilson to sky sports:
“It’s an elite level of sport, right? When you go to a big game there are bound to be losers. We were on the wrong side tonight. It was really difficult because there was only one goal, a set piece.
“It’s a brutal end to the season. So much has happened in 52 games. You can see the players all putting their heart and soul into it. It’s going to be tough and it’s important to remember that and come back stronger next year.
“Everyone needs to remember where we were when we took over last year. A broken squad and a lot of players left. Whatever happened tonight, we are way ahead. It’s really raw and bitter now, but I just said to the players, what they have achieved in one season is pretty incredible. It was our seventh defeat in 52 games.”
