Killian Phillips Keeps St Mirren Top with Penalty Win

Killian Phillips kept his nerve, his touch and St Mirren’s perfect start.

On a tense Paisley night, the midfielder’s second-half penalty was enough to edge out St Johnstone and keep Craig McLeish’s side sitting on top of the William Hill Premiership for a second successive Saturday.

Phillips delivers again

Seven days after opening the campaign with a double at Falkirk, Phillips supplied the only goal here, this time from 12 yards. No long run-up, no theatrics. Two steps, a cool glance, and Toby Steward sent the wrong way.

The decisive moment came on 73 minutes and it was a gift St Johnstone could not afford to give. Declan John clipped a forward pass into the left channel, Steward moved out to gather, unaware of the run of Samuel Ramos. The midfielder darted in, the goalkeeper collided with him, and referee Ross Hardie pointed straight to the spot.

Phillips did the rest. St Mirren had their second win from two. The league leaders had survived a scare to stay there.

Chapman’s big save turns the tide

If Phillips settled it, Jacob Chapman kept it alive.

Three minutes into the second half, St Johnstone had the chance to seize control after a long VAR check. Hardie was sent to the monitor and judged that Alex Gogic had handled while challenging for a throw-in hurled into the box.

Jamie Gullan stepped up. Chapman guessed left, sprang across, and pushed the penalty away. The home support roared; the momentum swung.

Up to that point, the game had been tight and attritional. Both sides arrived with opening-day wins and played like teams determined not to give that early optimism away cheaply.

Chances were scarce before the interval. The best of them fell to Ramos, who met a Chris Mochrie cross but headed straight at Steward. The St Johnstone keeper failed to deal with it cleanly, palming the ball up into the air, and a frantic goalmouth scramble followed before the visitors hacked clear.

Injuries, half-chances and growing tension

St Mirren suffered a blow when Marcus Fraser limped off, forcing McLeish to reshuffle his back line with Liam Donnelly slotting in at centre-back.

At the other end, Gullan tried to atone for his penalty miss by turning provider. He slipped a clever pass into the path of Matty Foulds, only for the left-back to drag his shot narrowly wide on the run.

McLeish then went to his bench and almost struck gold immediately. Fresh from a double substitution, Luke Thomas broke down the left and threaded a pass into Jake Young, who drove into the box. Cheick Diabate appeared to have a handful of the striker as he got his shot away, but Young’s effort skewed wide of the far post and any appeals were waved away.

The warning was clear, though: St Mirren were beginning to find space down the left, and St Johnstone were creaking.

Breakthrough and late drama

The breakthrough finally came from that same flank. St Mirren worked another attack down the left, John again involved, and when Steward’s misjudgement felled Ramos, Phillips applied the ruthless finish from the spot.

St Johnstone’s response was immediate. From a corner, Diabate rose highest and powered a header off the post with Chapman beaten. The home crowd, so buoyant moments earlier, held its breath as the ball cannoned away.

The final stages were frantic. St Mirren sensed a chance to kill the game and launched a series of efforts that were blocked by a packed visiting defence on the edge of the box.

That ambition almost cost them. Caught high, they were hit on the counter and Ruari Paton slid Gullan through on goal. This was the striker’s moment, but again the conviction wasn’t there. His effort was smothered by a combination of Steward, racing back, and Ryan Carr, who had read the danger and recovered to help shut it down.

Into stoppage time, St Johnstone pushed hard, loading the box and pinning the leaders back. Yet the clearest late chance fell the other way. Young broke free on the counter and forced Steward into a save that allowed St Mirren to lock the game in the visitors’ half and see out the remaining seconds.

Two games, two wins, top of the table. Phillips scoring, Chapman saving, McLeish’s side digging in when it matters. Early days, of course — but how long can they keep this edge?