Saints had by far and away the better of the first half, and only Arbroath keeper Craig Hinchcliffe stopped Saints from scoring a load. A fine save from a Jamie McGowan header and a stop when Cameron should have scored were just some of the highlights. Fortunately, when most Saints fans were beginning to think it would be "one of those days", Cameron scored after 15 mins. Hinchcliffe still almost saved it, but thankfully it went in to give Saints a priceless lead. Saints continued to press, but were unable to take advantage of anything, and Arbroath came back into it towards the end of the half.
The second half saw Arbroath dominating, although Saints did have a few chances. Cameron chickened out of a few passbacks which he could have done better with, and also mishit a great chance to make it 2-0. Mark Roberts was subbed to be replaced with Jamie Dunbar, and Ricky Gillies went up front alongside Cameron. Saints had virtually no goalscoring opportunites, and when they came they usually resulted in an awful shot or the player who should have shot passing the buck.
With all the Arbroath pressure it was clear a goal was coming. Arbroath hit the post, and just 30 seconds from full time had another great chance. Then, almost right on the whistle, the awful Kerr brought down an Arbroath player in the box. Penalty. No doubt about it, Saints boss John Coughlin has already admitted it was.
Since making his first team debut in December 1998, Ludovic Roy has not saved a penalty for us. With former Saint Andy Dow, who scored against us last week, taking the penalty, it looked likely that Saints had thrown away two valuable points. However, Ludo guessed right, saved it, and the resulting scramble resulted in nothing but the full time whistle being blown. This was the high point of the game, and Ludo did a lap of honour before throwing his gloves into the Northbank. The fact it was that workshy eejit Dow that missed it made it all the sweeter.
Make no mistake about it, this was an awful performance. If the penalty hadn't been awarded and Saints won anyway, they would have been booed off. Ludo saved the team from that, and a big well done to him. What was even better was that former Saint Mark Yardley scored in the last minute to give Albion Rovers a 2-1 victory over Morton, and effectively wreck their promotion chances. Gerrit right up ye!
With Alloa and Ross County losing, Saints are effectively safe. They need just one more point than Alloa over the rest of the season. Arbroath are effectively down as well.
Monday is the deadline by when players who are staying for next season must have signed new contracts. It looks like Cameron and Gillies, among others, won't be signing new ones and won't play again now we are effectively safe. The same goes for Ludo, so thanks for the performances big man, and what a way to bow out!