Gretna Reserves 1-5 St Mirren Reserves

Gretna suffered their third defeat in the SPL Reserve League as St Mirren ran-out convincing winners at Raydale Park.

The fixture was brought forward from March 18th as both teams scheduled opponent’s, Rangers and Celtic, were in Champions League action. And with the recent International break, it provided an opportunity for squad players to retain match fitness.

But Gretna made a slow start and the visitors took a third minute lead through Stephen McGinn. The Saints defender connected with an inswinging corner and volleyed the ball past Conor Grant from 12 yards.

The home side recovered from the early setback however, and Fraser McLaren broke down the right and delivered a dangerous cross that was cleared from the Saints goalmouth ahead of Mickaël Buscher.

Gretna were enjoying a good spell of possession and Steven Hogg made it count with a well-worked equaliser on 24 minutes. The midfielder combined with Buscher on the edge of the box and curled a low shot into the far corner of the net.

But the scores weren’t level for long as St Mirren split the Gretna defence on the half-hour. Alan Reid raced on to Alex Burke’s pass and slotted the ball under the advancing Conor Grant from 15 yards.

And Saints extended their advantage moments later when Burke broke the offside trap and held of the challenge of Ryan McGuffie before firing past the exposed Grant.

French forward Mickaël Buscher had a good opportunity to pull a goal-back before the break when he met an Erik Paartalu cross from the right but his header missed the target.

The visitors were only inches away from extending their lead on the stroke of half-time as the lively Alex Burke saw his curling effort come back off the post.

But Chris Birchall added a fourth with a free-kick on 49 minutes after a foul on the edge of the box. The on-loan Coventry City winger picked himself up and curled the ball into the bottom right-hand corner.

Goalscorer Steven Hogg should have reduced the deficit immediately when he broke clear of the Saints defence but Mark Howard was equal to his shot.

The Buddies keeper made another fine save to deny Colin McMenamin from 12 yards after the substitute connected with a Nicky Deverdics pass first-time.

And Stephen O’Donnell completed a bad day at the office for Gretna with a fifth goal on 75 minutes. Chris Birchall’s cross was only half-cleared and O’Donnell slammed the loose ball into the net from close range.

GRETNA: Grant, Cowan, McGuffie (McMenamin 53), Grainger, Deverdics, Jenkins, Paartalu, Hogg, Buscher (Baldacchino 62), Graham, McLaren. Subs not used: Tait, Faulds, Hughes.