ANYONE assessing this encounter for their pre-match pools coupon could have been forgiven in plumping for a scoreless stalemate.

In their last three fixtures, St Mirren failed to breach their opponent's goal, while for Aberdeen one strike in 270 minutes of recent action hardly makes a case for clinical finishing.

With Saints' top scorer Steven Thompson sidelined by suspension, the Paisley club's hopes of a first Clydesdale Bank Premier League goal since January 14 were, it seemed, significantly reduced. Factor in the statistic that both sides were separated by just two points prior to kick-off, as they both chased the one realistic top-six league berth still available, and the betting was odds on for a tight encounter.

So while the respective managers, Craig Brown and Danny Lennon, were relieved to see their sides score in this dreary 1-1 draw, which was blighted by trigger-happy referee Steven McLean with seven yellow cards, a point apiece nevertheless produced scant satisfaction.

Indeed, Brown rued missing the chance to head back up north with three points safely tucked away with the team kit.

The Aberdeen manager said: "We had the chances to win the game but didn't take them. I felt we did enough after the interval to win. But with a depleted squad and seven players out, we are limping from fixture to fixture.

"To be honest, we are collecting too many draws. I feel our top-six hopes are slipping away. We are on an unbeaten run and there is an expectation from our fans, but to get in the top six and do something in the cup we will need to find something extra."

There was little evidence of that kind of added value in a cagey first half in which Nigel Hasselbaink came closest to ending the home side's goal famine. But the Dutchman's tame effort was a reflection of the current lack of penetration in the Paisley attack and Aberdeen goalkeeper Jason Brown remained untroubled.

His St Mirren counterpart, Craig Samson, was finally forced into gainful employment when Kari Arnason latched on to a Rory McArdle cross and drew a decent save from the Saints keeper with a snap volley on 23 minutes.

With 12 goalless draws between the two clubs having preceded this encounter, there was little reason to believe that number 13 was not about to transpire as the interval arrived with the scoresheet untroubled.

Almost immediately after the interval the game's best chance came in favour of Aberdeen. Lee Mair's wayward pass back on 50 minutes found Fraser Fyvie, who latched on to the loose ball but, with Samson stranded in no man's land, his sidefoot finish squirmed passed the left post to ensure the Paisley club's iron curtain remained intact after 322 minutes of SPL action.

Having survived that near miss, St Mirren duly seized the moment to break the deadlock. Paul McGowan slipped the ball through to Hasselbaink and the Dutchman's burst of pace took him clear of Andrew Considine before he drove a powerful finish past Brown on 57 minutes.

Yet almost immediately Aberdeen were level when Scott Vernon was picked out by Mitchell Megginson 10 yards out in the Saints' area and he smashed home a fierce drive to restore parity. All of a sudden the game had been injected with an energy where torpor had abounded but, despite a near miss by St Mirren's former Scotland cap Gary Teale, the pattern – and the scoreline – remained the same.

For his part, St Mirren manager Danny Lennon was sanguine at the end. He said: "We are stretched and had to bring on two 17-year-olds. But it is another valuable point and we will settle for that. Unfortunately, we didn't retain our focus and Aberdeen punished us."