A chance to go into an even more comfortable situation should have arisen within seconds of the restart. Wardlaw tried to chase a ball in behind before Jack appeared to knock it back to Howard, who picked it up. Mr Allan decided there was no offence, then changed his mind and penalised the back-pass - then changed it again and decided to award a drop ball to make up for his error. Unsurprisingly, it came to nothing. A few minutes later Aberdeen forced a corner that fell to Maguire, but his volley cleared the stand.

Ifil became the game's first booking when he allowed Travner to get the better of him before bringing him down. When a corner fell to Cregg he gave in to the temptation to have a go from about 20 yards but while the shot didn't fly out of the ground, it did go well wide. When Travner and McGregor both failed to deal with a bouncing ball at the other end it allowed Maguire in behind them before he was nudged over by McGregor at the expense of a free-kick. Hartley played a low pass to Maguire and while he failed to connect, Rory McArdle made no mistake as his shot flew into the bottom corner to give Aberdeen an equaliser they didn't deserve. Saints had been looking by far the more likely team to score, yet had conceded a goal with what was Aberdeen's first meaningful attempt on target.

Saints next attack brought another penalty claim when Travner tried to pull the ball back to Mooy, who was promptly bundled over by Jack. It looked a fairly clear foul, but once again the Dons defender had got away unpunished. Aberdeen then replaced Ifil and Aluko with Michael Paton and Clark Robertson before Mackie was booked for a late challenge on McAusland. The forward was then involved in a 1-2 with Hartley, which saw the Scotland international shoot into the advertising boards beside the goal.

Mooy's ability to take a decent set-piece looks like something Saints will benefit from in the coming weeks, as midway through the half he produced another good corner that mcGregor put well wide. It proved to be the Aussie's last meaningful contribution as a few minutes later he was replaced with Hugh Murray. Maguire seemed to be giving McGregor some problems, yet with just over 15 minutes left he was replaced by Andrius Velicka. Then it was McGowan's turn to be fouled by Jack and once again the defender's infringement inside the box went unpunished.

Saints were carving out few scoring opportunities, Wardlaw volleying over from the edge of the box before McGowan let rip with an effort from 25 yards that dipped just over the bar. Aberdeen weren't doing much better in the creativity stakes, Paton blasting over after a free-kick was knocked back to him just outside the penalty area and Hartley doing likewise from a corner. A slip from McGregor gave Jack a chance to complete his elevation to villain status, but his effort was blocked by a body in a Saints shirt. There was then a huge shout for a penalty when the ball bounced off Higdon, although it appeared to hit his chest rather than his arm. A foul on van Zanten earned Robertson a booking and gave Saints a free-kick at the other end that Travner struck fiercely and it didn't seem to miss the top corner by much. From a Dons corner, Vernon headed over, although it never looked like threatening Craig Samson.

And then, with just seconds of stoppage time remaining, came a goal that could be a turning point in Saints season. Travner had been getting in behind the Aberdeen defence all game and he did it again when McGowan played him in. He clearly had the better of his defender and this time instead of passing he went for the shot - and it flew across Howard into the far corner to spark scenes of bedlam around three sides of St Mirren Park. After the celebrations for the Slovenian's first goal had died down, there was just enough time for Aberdeen to kick off before Mr Allan decided enough was enough and blew for full time.