Roland Idowu scored a last-gasp penalty winner in St Mirren’s topsy-turvy 3-2 William Hill Premiership victory over St Johnstone as they moved back into the top six.
Josh Rae saved Mark O’Hara’s spot-kick but VAR alerted referee Euan Anderson that he had come off his line early and – during a retake – Idowu, on loan from Shrewsbury, sent Rae the wrong way to secure maximum points.
The Paisley team had won just once and scored two goals in 10 visits to McDiarmid Park since promotion in 2018.
This game looked like being another poor result in Perth as Makenzie Kirk and Benji Kimpioka netted comeback goals for the hosts.
Killian Phillips had given St Mirren the lead in 10 minutes but they lost momentum in the second period.
However, 17-year-old Evan Mooney came off the bench to score in only his second substitute appearance to tee up the dramatic ending.
Home boss Simo Valakari, who was without suspended Sven Sprangler, brought in Adama Sidibeh as his only change as he reshuffled his system to use a three-man attack.
Despite all that firepower, they failed to threaten the visiting defence, with Alex Iacovitti featuring for the first time since August.
Mikael Mandron replaced Toyosi Olusanya in attack as St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson sought to tackle a lack of creativity and a clinical touch in the final third in recent weeks.
Both issues were swiftly resolved. Mandron created space to collect and turn 22 yards out and slotted a perfect pass through to match the run of Phillips.
St Johnstone hands went up to claim offside but the Irishman timed it just right and tucked a low finish past Rae.
Valakari made a straight swap at half-time with David Keltjens replacing Lewis Neilson at right-back.
The Israel international took just seven minutes to make an impact, with a pass to release Nicky Clark.
The St Johnstone captain connected with a darting diagonal run from Kirk, who tucked a terrific low finish beyond the reach of Ellery Balcombe for his third goal in five games.
Luke Kenny, 21, made his first Premiership appearance for the Buddies after Richard Taylor was carried off on a stretcher.
Phillips skied a great chance for St Mirren and there was wasteful work at the opposite end from Sidibeh and Kimpioka.
However, Swede Kimpioka made amends by putting the Perth Saints in front. Drey Wright’s determination kept St Johnstone in attack mode and he played Kimpioka through on the left.
A superb first touch took him beyond defenders and he fired into the roof of the net.
The home side’s defensive failings returned, however, and they could not hold on.
Goalkeeper Rae offered an unconvincing punch to a routine ball into the box and Mooney swept home a leveller.
Deep in stoppage time, VAR awarded a penalty for handball by Jason Holt and Idowu succeeded where O’Hara failed, nine minutes after the initial 90.
