THIS was another St Mirren match in which a positive result helped mask the poverty of the performance. Up against opposition from three divisions below them, Jim Goodwin’s men huffed and puffed for long spells before finally coming up with the goal that ensured they top their Betfred Cup group.

It was harsh on a Queen’s Park side who contributed so much to the contest in the first half especially but failed to track the run of Jon Obika whose header from a corner after 82 minutes ultimately proved the difference.

The striker was one of a clutch of St Mirren players to have been struck down with coronavirus recently and Goodwin praised his resilience after Obika claimed a fifth goal of the season.

“Jon was one we had to be really careful with,” said the manager. “It takes quite a while to recover from it, going by what we are seeing and there’s a lot of fatigue in there. But you can see how valuable he is. He comes off the bench and is a real handful.”

St Mirren’s cause wasn’t aided by a red card shown to Joe Shaughnessy early in the second half, although Goodwin revealed the club are considering appealing the decision.

“When I watch it back there’s no intention from Joe,” he added. “He doesn’t swing his elbow, it’s not a pointed elbow. I will speak to [chief executive] Tony Fitzpatrick and hopefully we can launch an appeal.”

Vaccine permitting, Hampden will be jumping for next summer’s European Championship group games against Czech Republic and Croatia but it was again bereft of atmosphere here, the shouts of the players echoing around the empty stands with fans again locked out.

Queen’s Park will be preparing to pack up and move next door to Lesser Hampden around that point. The League Two side gave a more than decent account of themselves and created the better of the chances in a first half that was competitive if not exactly easy on the eye.

The expectation was that St Mirren would step it up in the second period but instead found themselves up against it after being reduced to 10 men.

It was a mental aberration from the experienced Shaughnessy who swung an arm in the direction of Mikey Doyle as the pair contested a header, earning himself an instant red card.

As the rain teemed down, though, chances remained few and far between, although St Mirren substitute Kyle McAllister was unfortunate to see a goalbound shot blocked by the legs of the goalkeeper.

It was a more familiar source, however, that eventually made the breakthrough for the visitors. McAllister sent over the corner and, just as he had done against Morton in midweek, Obika rose highest to head his team in front and consign Queen’s to another defeat.

“When you consider the division we’re in it’s a good thing that the boys are disappointed that they haven’t taken something from the game,” said their manager Ray McKinnon.