St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson feared a lengthy lay-off for Mark O’Hara after he was injured as he missed a stoppage-time penalty in his side’s 3-2 William Hill Premiership win at St Johnstone.
The Paisley skipper, who missed multiple weeks with a thigh issue last season, sustained a recurrence in a crazy conclusion at McDiarmid Park.
O’Hara’s spot-kick, awarded for handball on Jason Holt, was saved by Josh Rae. However, referee Euan Anderson was advised by VAR that Rae came off his line early and ordered a retake.
Roland Idowu claimed that one and beat Rae emphatically to secured three points and a return to the top six for St Mirren.
The victory, however, came at a cost as Scott Tanser and Richard Taylor were also hurt.
Robinson reported: “Unfortunately, Mark has pulled his thigh taking the first penalty and it looks serious.
“He will need a scan and we think it could be a bad one and a recurrence of the problem he had last season.
“That would be a big blow for us and he is gutted at the moment. He’s very down.
“Credit to him for wanting to stand up and take another penalty but I told Roland to take the second one.
“It’s always a pressure situation and that was my call that Mark didn’t take it again. Roland showed real composure to win it.
“I couldn’t watch the penalty, though. I just watched the fans. I watched the first one and I thought ‘I must be a jinx’, so I only saw it on a replay.”
Killian Phillips put St Mirren ahead but goals from Makenzie Kirk and Benji Kimpioka put the hosts in front with nine minutes to play.
That, according to St Johnstone boss Simo Valakari, was when emotions got the better of his team.
Valakari said: “I think the boys showed how good they are in the second half and scored two great goals.
“Then emotions – positive emotions – took over us. We were thinking: ‘We’re going to score even more goals’.
“We lost it a little bit in our heads, instead of having calmness and passing the ball around.
“We were in total control of the match. We could have kept the ball to see the game out.
“That’s the biggest disappointment for me. Plus, it’s a reality check.
“We’re not there as a team yet that can do the right things in the moments we need them to do that.
“We lost the game at 2-1. We need to learn quickly to see those moments out.”
Evan Mooney, 17, came off the bench to level at 2-2 and tee up the frantic finish.
Robinson added: “I have to credit their response to going 2-1 down. Young Evan scored a great goal and the others all contributed.”
