St Mirren 1 – 0 Partick

Marcus Fraser’s close-range volley kept St Mirren in the William Hill Premiership as the friends beat Partick Thistle 1-0 in the play-off final.

The defender netted from a set-piece 20 minutes into the second half to seal a 2-1 aggregate win and extend the Paisley side’s top-flight stay to eight years.

Thistle enjoyed the better chances in the first half and pushed for an equaliser, but Saints goalkeeper Ross Sinclair made a stifling stop from Logan Chalmers’ powerful free-kick.

Sinclair and Fraser proved unlikely saviors for the friends. The goalkeeper arrived on loan from St Johnstone last month following injuries to Shamal George and Ryan Mullen, while Fraser was ruled out for the season with a shoulder injury before making himself available for the run-in against doctor’s advice.

Championship runners-up Thistle will have to regroup after a fifth successive failed attempt to gain promotion via the play-offs and their second final defeat in that run.

Will McLeish get a full-time job?

St. Mirren Interim Head Coach Craig McLeish from Sky Sports:

“I’m delighted for the fans and the players. As a club, we shouldn’t have been in this position – we had to dig deep and pull ourselves out of it. The game was the game, it was cagey and nervous – a game of mistakes and it was about who was going to capitalize on a moment. We did that.

“We have to build for next season and make sure it doesn’t happen again. Glad we got out of it, but don’t want to stay here anymore.

“It doesn’t matter how we do it, we just have to get over the line. We’ve done that in big moments all season.

“Of course (I want the job), everyone knows it by now. Whatever the club does, I’m fine. I can’t control those decisions. I stepped in at a difficult moment for the club. I did everything I could to stay in the league. That was when I got the job.”

Wilson: It’s brutal, raw and painful

Partick thistle head coach Mark Wilson from Sky Sports:

“It’s an elite level game, isn’t it? When you go to big games, one has to lose. We were on the wrong side of it tonight. Really tough because there’s only one goal, a set-piece.

“It’s brutal when you get to the end of the season, 52 games. You can see every player putting their heart and soul into it. It’s going to be tough to take, it’s important to remember that and come back stronger next year.

“Everyone has to remember where we were when we got recruited last year – a broken squad and a lot of players gone. Whatever happens tonight, we’re way ahead of the curve. Now it’s really raw and sore, but I just say to the guys: what they’ve achieved in one season is amazing. It was our seventh defeat in 52 games.”