Life without Jim Goodwin got off to an eventful start for the Buddies as they battled back to rescue a point on the road against Livingston.
St Mirren were hoping the disruption caused from losing their manager the day before travelling to West Lothian wouldn't have too much of an impact.
The Saints looked disjointed throughout the first half, with Livi just about edging a fairly forgettable opening 45 minutes.
The Lions took the lead early after the break, with Joe Shaughnessy unfortunate to direct Bruce Anderson's shot bounce in off him via the post.
The Paisley side rallied admirably, with Greg Kiltie firing his side level with a powerful low drive from the edge of the box.
And the Saints managed to hold on and maintain their now eight-game unbeaten run, despite losing Charles Dunne to a red card late on.
The point keeps them in joint-sixth spot in the Premiership - above Goodwin's new side Aberdeen.
Allan McManus, Andy Webster and Jamie Langfield were in the dugout in Goodwin's absence and they unsurprisingly named an unchanged side from the Saints' last two games - victories over St Johnstone and Kelty Hearts.
There was an early injury scare for the visitors when Marcus Fraser went down within the opening minute. Thankfully for St Mirren he was able to shake it off and continue.
In front of a bumper crowd after Livingston handed away thousands of free tickets, the Buddies started the game on the front foot despite the disruption surrounding their departed manager.
Jordan Jones linked up nicely with Connor Ronan on the left wing, with the former finding the side-netting.
The Lions started to bare their teeth as captain Nicky Devlin teed up Bruce Anderson. He fired narrowly wide to give the home crowd something to shout about.
Joe Shaughnessy pulled off a vital tackle on Alan Forrest as the winger danced into the St Mirren box, before Stephane Omeonga curled a powerful effort just over the bar as Livi looked the more likely to trouble the scoresheet.
Ayo Obileye spurned a glorious chance when, from a pinpoint corner, he had a free header which he directed wastefully over the bar.
The first half fizzled out with a whimper, with neither side able to create any clear cut chances to open the scoring before the break.
There was an early flashpoint in the second half when Charles Dunne brushed aside Anderson, who went down clutching his face.
The Livi fans were livid, but referee Willie Collum saw nothing wrong with the challenge with play waved on.
The Lions raced out of the traps and Joel Nouble almost put them in front when he fired narrowly wide at the back post with Jak Alnwick stranded.
St Mirren failed to heed the warning and soon found themselves deservedly behind. A superb cross from Devlin picked out Anderson, who cracked the post with his shot before the ball fairly fortuitously bounced in off Shaughnessy and into the net.
The Buddies were on the ropes and captain Shaughnessy came to the rescue this time when he made a crucial block from Jack Fitzwater inside the box when it looked like David Martindale's side were about to double their lead.
The interim Saints bosses knew a change needed to be made, and they replaced Alex Gogic with Jay Henderson as they looked to pose more of an attacking threat.
That move paid dividends when the ball broke to Greg Kiltie on the edge of the box from substitute Scott Tanser's corner. He drilled a low strike through a host of bodies to level the scores.
After clawing their way back into the match, the Buddies gave themselves a mountain to climb when they were reduced to ten men.
Charles Dunne was deemed to have caught Sebastian Soto in the face with his arm, with the former Motherwell man earning a straight red card.
Jak Alnwick came to the rescue when he produced a stunning reflex save to stop a deflected clearance from giving the hosts the lead.
Despite being a man down St Mirren looked to break forward and thought they should have had a penalty when Jay Henderson was clumsily brought down on the edge of the box.
Collum waved away the protests, much to the disgust of the large travelling Saints contingent.
Despite their numerical advantage, Livingston couldn't make it count in the closing stages with the Buddies more than happy to see out the draw and keep their unbeaten run intact.
