There were goals a plenty at St Mirren Park this afternoon as Saints and Inverness Caledonian Thistle played out a pulsating 3-3 draw.

Both managers will no doubt think about what might have been. On another day, Caley Thistle could have been three up inside five minutes - but with some different luck Darren McGregor could have had a hat-trick for Saints. It really was one of those days and neither side deserved to come away from this one with nothing.

After two close calls in the first couple of minutes, Caley Thistle went in front when static defending allowed Adam Rooney in to prod the ball home. Things settled down for nearly 20 minutes after that before Craig Dargo took a tumble when challenged by David Proctor and Michael Higdon slammed home the penalty.

Dargo was at it again when play resumed, laying the ball back to Steven Thomson who sent a humdinger of a shot into the top corner. But five minutes later things were all square again as Aaron Doran took advantage of more poor defending to equalise for Caley Thistle.

Yet more bad defending let Rooney put Caley Thistle back in front in the second half but with just over 15 minutes left, half-time sub Jure Travner found McGregor from a corner and he sent a thumping header into the net.

That was the end of the scoring and both sides will probably feel they should have won. The fact Saints increased their gap over bottom club Hamilton should provide some comfort in the absence of a much needed three points.

There was just one change to the Saints side that knocked Ayr United out of the Scottish Cup last week, with Hugh Murray replacing the suspended Jim Goodwin. Paul McGowan was fit enough to keep his place in the team, while Jure Travner was once again left on the bench. There were changes on the bench, with Jamie McCluskey and Sean Lynch making a rare appearance in the team-lines. Terry Butcher fielded the attacking Irish trio of Jonny Hayes, Richie Foran and top scorer Adam Rooney, with former Saint Chris Innes in defence.

It took less than 20 seconds for Hayes to threaten as he pounced on a mistake to send in a volley that was straight at Saints keeper Paul Gallacher. Only a minute later an Aaron Doran cross was missed by the Saints defence and Foran tried his luck, but again it was never going anywhere other than Gallacher's arms.

Clearly this wasn't enough of a wake-up call. After five minutes some more lackadaisical defending from Saints allowed a free-kick from Caley Thistle keeper Ryan Esson to bounce through to Rooney, who produced a predator's finish to put the visitors in front.

It took nearly a quarter of an hour for Saints to muster up some sort of response and even then there was little chance of Esson failing to hold David van Zanten's low shot. But the Buddies should have been level soon after when van Zanten picked out Steven Thomson inside the box and his shot was tipped away by Esson. The rebound bounced just over the head of the unsuspecting Higdon before Murray arrived to prod the ball off the post when it looked easier to score. Injury then forced Caley Thistle into a substitution as Eric Odhiambo replaced Hayes which, unbeknown to those watching, seemed to be the unofficial firing gun for a mad and mental 10 minutes.

Shortly after the sub's arrival, Saints were gifted another chance to equalise - and this time they grabbed it. Dargo tried twice to get past David Proctor and the second time hit the deck convincingly enough for referee Bobby Madden to point to the spot. Higdon duly did the honours, dispatching the ball into the net.

No sooner had that happened than Saints were in front. Again it was Dargo who was involved, working brilliantly to find the space to lay the ball off to Thomson, who thundered the ball into the top left corner from 20 yards. Worldie, peach, blockbuster, call it what you want, it was a superb strike and gave the men in black and white the lead from absolutely nowhere. It was harsh on Caley Thistle, but they hadn't really created much since going in front.

But within five minutes they'd put that right. Saints cheaply surrendered possession in the final third and when Lee Cox delivered the ball into the danger area the defence was static once again, allowing Foran to have a swing and a miss before Doran beat Gallacher to the ball and lifted it over him in the net. All square once again.

McGowan and Higdon both tried efforts in a bid to beat Thomson to the goal of the month award, but one was saved by Esson and the other went over. A few minutes before the break McGowan got himself a booking for simulation when he wriggled his way into the box before going down rather easily under a challenge from Chris Hogg. There was a stoppage-time scare when the defence failed to deal with another cross, but this time Innes nodded wide from Doran's free-kick.