Alan Cochrane @ Love Street

Watching games like this make you wonder whether we should be having a winter break, instead of shoe-horning extra games in at the fag-end of the year. The conditions were atrocious, each half starting with a downpour, and finishing a wash-out. We had practically no shots on goal from either side, passes going all over the place, particularly in the final third, and only a few over 4000 paying customers giving the Christmas shopping the body-swerve. There were occasional flashes of football, but that only made you realise what you were missing.

But it wasn't for lack of effort. Both sides gave it everything they had, and if Gus McPherson had fired up his players to have a real go at the team just above them in the league, the Killie defence looked a lot more stable and sound with Simon Ford returning beside Ryan O'Leary at its heart. In addition, Jamie Hamill not only defended well on the right, but emulated his skipper on the other side, by being a wing-back desperate to charge forward at every opportunity. We also looked much more comfortable with James Fowler back in the middle of the pitch, and Mehdi Taouil beside him looks every inch a footballer.

Up front though, it just didn't happen. There were no shots to trouble either keeper for the whole first half. After half an hour Willie Gibson slashed over a great cross from the left, but Colin Nish's header went the way he was facing and ended well wide. Apart from that, cut-backs went astray, final passes were wayward, or defenders were given too easy a time. The half-time cup of tea was welcome against the raw chill.

In the second half we did have a couple of efforts, as did Saints. Mehmet got off a volley which fortunately was straight at Alan Combe, and Andy Millen had a forty-yarder which Jim Jefferies described as having the snails ducking, but again Combe held it well. For Killie, Jamie Hamill fired in a shot from way out on the right which Smith was relieved to see fizz past his right hand postage-stamp, and then the keeper denied Killie with a great diving save at the foot of his right-hand post from a powerful Nish header.

Saints will be pleased that their "new" signing Craig Dargo got 50 minutes football, Killie will be happy that Ford and Hay were back, and others seem to be a bit closer to fitness. And neither team lost any ground.

Have a great Christmas - and come to see us play Hibs on Boxing Day.

St Mirren: Smith, Van Zanten, Mason, Mehmet, Burke, Brady, Corcoran (Kean), Maxwell, Dargo (Miranda), Barron (Reid), Millen

Kilmarnock: Combe, Fowler, Hay, Ford, Nish, Invincibile, Gibson (Jarvis), Fernandez (Wales), O'Leary, Hamill, Taouil

Referee: Mike Tumilty