ST MIRREN's surprisingly emphatic victory over Kilmarnock on Saturday was, according to one cynical supporter, like "granting a dying man one last wish".
Chances are the win - only the team's second at home in the league all season - will make little difference come the end in St Mirren's fight to avoid relegation. They remain rooted to the bottom of the SPFL Premiership, seven points adrift of Motherwell with a worse goal difference, with just four matches of the campaign remaining. To somehow escape the automatic drop, Gary Teale's side would probably need to win three of those games - including their home meeting with Motherwell on May 16 - and hope that Ian Baraclough's side pick up no more one point in their other three fixtures. It seems a likely as Nigel Farage entering next year's Eurovision Song Contest but stranger things have happened. Here are five other relegation great escapes that might give St Mirren a flicker of hope for the weeks ahead.
Eintracht Frankfurt
German Bundesliga
1998/99
It looked all over for Frankfurt's survival hopes as they found themselves some six points from safety with just four matches of the Bundesliga season to go. Three successive victories, however, gave them a fighting chance and they went into their final game against Kaiserslautern now just a point away from staying up. The problem was, though, that their opponents were riding high in the table and pushing for a Champions League place. To add to the complex nature of the situation, if other results went against them then Frankfurt would have to not only win but do so by four clear goals. Drawing 0-0 at half-time and then 1-1 after 70 minutes, it was looking bleak for Eintracht until a late goal blitz carried them to safety. Hero of the hour was the Norwegian Jan Aage Fjortoft who netted the crucial fifth goal just a minute from time. It meant Nuremberg, who had started the day in the safety of 12th position, ended up going down by dint of fewer goals scored, with them and a jubilant Frankfurt finishing on identical points and goal differences tallies.
West Bromwich Albion
English Premier League
2004/05
Proof that in football it ain't over 'til it's over came in the form of West Brom's dramatic last-day survival a decade ago. Bryan Robson's side went in to the final match of the campaign sitting bottom of the Premier League needing a win while hoping that none of three teams above them were similarly successful. It seemed unlikely but remarkably that very scenario came to pass. West Brom fulfilled their end of the bargain by beating Portsmouth 2-0 and survived by the skin of their teeth after Southampton, Crystal Palace and Norwich City all failed to secure a win. West Brom finished in 17th place avoiding relegation by a solitary point.
West Ham United
English Premier League
2006/07
With just four games of the season remaining, second-bottom West Ham found themselves five points from safety. Sheffield United, in 17th place, also had a much better goal difference. West Ham, however, would go on to win all of their remaining matches - including a final-day win over Manchester United at Old Trafford - to beat the drop by three points. The scorer that day was Carlow Tevez whose registration, alongwith that of compatriot Javier Mascherano, was later deemed to be invalid. West Ham, however, controversially avoided a points deduction and Sheffield United ended up being relegated alongwith Watford and Charlton Athletic. West Ham ended up paying £20m to United by way of compensation but the Sheffield club have not been back in the Premier League since.
Fulham
English Premier League
2007/08
One year on and this time it was Fulham pulling off an even greater act of escapology. Like West Ham they found themselves five points from safety but this time with only three matches to save their skin. When they then found themselves two goals down away to Manchester City, it looked like their fate was sealed. A rousing second-half comeback, however, capped by an injury time winner from Diomansay Kamara kept Fulham's survival hopes alive, and they then took it to the final day with a 2-0 home win over Birmingham City. They still needed something away to Portsmouth and a late Danny Murphy header ensured Fulham stayed up by just three goals at Reading's expense. Within two years they were competing in the Europa League final.
Hartlepool United
English League Two
2014/15
When Ronnie Moore became Hartlepool manager in mid-December last year he inherited a team that hadn't won for two months and were six points shy of avoiding the drop out of the Football League. It looked a fairly grim prospect but Moore wasn't undeterred. Last weekend, with one game still to go, Hartlepool ensured their unbroken membership of the league that dates back to 1921 would go on. "I had a word with Father Christmas [when Moore was appointed] and he promised that this might just happen," joked a very relieved manager. It was a slow process, however, with the gap to safety at one point growing to 10 points, and still as big as nine points by mid-March. Four games later, however, and Hartlepool were out of the bottom two where they would remain for the remainder of the campaign. In an ironic twist, Tranmere Rovers, who sacked Moore a year ago, were the team to go down instead.
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