A SPIRITED display earned Gretna their first Clydesdale Bank Premier League point since falling into administration.
Gretna goalkeeper Greg Fleming twice saved well within five minutes, but a much-changed St Mirren could not sustain their pressure and midfielder Abdul Osman missed the best chance of the first half for the Borders club.
St Mirren substitute Steph
en McGinn struck the bar with a fierce effort and neither side could finish off sporadic second-half attacks. The draw took relegated Gretna to seven points following their ten-point penalty, but the milestone of completing their pre-split fixtures was more significant given fears over their immediate future last week.
They also avoided another record low SPL crowd following the 431 attendance that saw them lose to Inverness on Saturday, with a decent travelling support pushing the crowd up to 751.
Gretna caretaker manager Mick Wadsworth is optimistic that his team will see out their remaining fixtures. "The big news is my (club] telephone has been turned back on and it is on for a month," he said. "So that is a good sign. My assumption is that everything is cool and we will get through to the end of the season."
Wadsworth revealed a club employee had met former benefactor Brooks Mileson, whose withdrawal of funding following a brain infection plunged the club into their financial crisis.
"I spoke to someone that saw him yesterday and he is very, very poorly and that's a terrible shame," Wadsworth said. "He said he looked and sounded very, very poorly. It's safe to say Brooks' days at the club are probably behind us."
St Mirren started well with Fleming diving to push the ball wide after Mark Corcoran had flicked Craig Dargo's low cross towards the far post. He then stopped David Barron's powerful left-footed volley following the corner, with Jim Hamilton off-target with the rebound.
But St Mirren quickly lost their momentum and John-Paul Kissock almost connected with Brendan McGill's low cross following a slick Gretna break.
MacPherson brought on Stewart Kean and McGinn and the move almost paid immediate dividends on the hour mark. Andy Dorman's free-kick was blocked and McGinn met the rebound with a ferocious 20-yard volley which struck the underside of the bar and bounced to safety.
The St Mirren fans began to celebrate deep into injury time when Kean netted from 10 yards after a corner, but he was well offside and they were booing at the final whistle seconds later.
Gretna: Fleming, Barr, Griffiths, Meynell, Skelton, McGill, Osman, Murray (Deverdics 46), Wilkinson (Hogg 73), Kissock (Taylor 81), Naughton. Subs not used: Sharples, Fisher, Robinson, Schultz-Eklund.
St Mirren: Howard, McCay, Haining, Potter, Barron, Brittain (Molloy 83), Dorman, Brady (Kean 58), Corcoran (McGinn 58), Hamilton, Dargo. Subs Not Used: Smith, Maxwell, O'Donnell, Docherty. Booked: Dargo, Hamilton.
Attendance: 751. Referee: S Finnie
The full article contains 495 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
