St Mirren 1-0 Gretna

Gretna remain at the foot of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League table after a narrow defeat to fellow strugglers St Mirren.

Billy Mehmet’s first-half strike was all that separated the two teams in a scrappy affair at Love Street.

The visitors finished the game with ten-men when Craig Barr was shown red after collecting two yellow cards for the second time this season.

Davie Irons made one change from the side that performed heroics against Celtic two weeks ago, with Danny Grainger replacing the injured Aurélien Collin in defence.

But they struggled to emulate many aspects of that performance and lost vital ground on their relegation rivals.

St Mirren made a more confident start and captain Hugh Murray got behind Danny Grainger on three minutes to cut the ball back for Billy Mehmet, who saw his shot blocked by team mate Gary Mason.

Veteran Andy Millen then collected a short corner from Chris Birchall and delivered an inviting cross that Will Haining headed narrowly wide.

Gretna regained their composure however, and Fabian Yantorno proved his attacking threat once again. On the half-hour, the Uruguayan volleyed over the bar from a Craig Barr knock-down.

And moments later he drew a fantastic fingertip save from Saints keeper Chris Smith with a dipping shot from 30 yards.

But it was fellow South American Franco Miranda who was celebrating on 35 minutes as his dangerous cross from the left was converted by Billy Mehmet for the decisive goal.

Gretna introduced Mickaël Buscher and David Graham at the break as they looked to put more pressure on the home side.

But they nearly found themselves further behind on 52 minutes as St Mirren broke on the counter-attack. Hugh Murray found Alex Burke in space on the left hand-side and the midfielder’s angled drive flew inches wide of the far post.

The Black and Whites afternoon was then made more difficult with the loss of the influential Yantorno to injury. Colin McMenamin replaced the Uruguayan, who left the field of play clutching his groin.

St Mirren continued to create the better opportunities and Greg Fleming produced a brilliant point-blank save to keep out a goalbound header from substitute Stewart Kean. Gretna breathed another sigh of relief moments later as David Van Zanten struck the crossbar with a curling shot from 30 yards.

Play stretched as the game neared its conclusion with Gretna throwing men forward in search of an equaliser. Substitute Colin McMenamin headed over from a good position while Allan Jenkins should have done better with a shot from 15 yards.

The home side had the ball in the net again on 82 minutes but substitute Stephen O’Donnell was ruled offside after Greg Fleming had parried a Stewart Kean drive.

Gretna were reduced to ten-men two minutes from time when Craig Barr, booked for an off-the ball incident in the first-half, was shown a second yellow for a late challenge on Will Haining.

Nevertheless, Davie Irons’ men piled on the pressure and almost grabbed a point at the death. Davie Graham’s corner sparked a goalmouth scramble but Mickaël Buscher and Gavin Skelton couldn’t force the ball over the line.

St Mirren: Smith, Van Zanten, Mason, Haining, Murray, Mehmet, Burke (Kean 63), Corcoran (McGinn 82), Miranda, Millen, Birchall (O’Donnell 67). Subs not used: Howard, Potter, McCay, Docherty.

Gretna: Fleming, Barr, Horwood, Innes, Grainger, Cowan (Graham 46), Jenkins, Murray, Skelton, Grady (Buscher 46), Yantorno (McMenamin 61). Subs not used: Caig, Hogg, McGill, Paartalu.

Star Man: Greg Fleming
The young keeper has had a terrific few weeks and enjoyed another good performance against the Saints. He kept Gretna in the game with two superb second-half saves to deny substitute Stewart Kean and did the basics well throughout.

Attendance: 3,646
Referee: Mike Tumilty