The Buddies are still finding out about their new home as they secured the first point at St Mirren Park.

St Mirren manager Gus MacPherson knows it will take time for his players to settle into their new stadium. He had to rely on a late Dennis Wyness equaliser against Kilmarnock to save face on the first day of competative football at their new home. Kevin Kyle had headed a debut goal which Killie defended until the 83rd minute at the new St Mirren Park. However, Wyness turned home from close range after an error by Alan Combe, who had saved a first-half penalty from Jim Hamilton after controversially escaping a red card for taking down Craig Dargo. A near-capacity crowd of 7,542 helped make the first game at the Greenhill Road ground a memorable occasion but MacPherson believes the pitch could provide problems in the weeks to come. Hesaid: "The pitch will take a bit of getting used to. It's best to say it was tricky, difficult in term s of the footwear. It's very, very firm. But that's because it's this time of year that we're going on to it. If it went down in the summer, you wouldn't have that. That's just something we have to contend with."

Kyle, who headed home Garry Hay's cross for the 29th-minute opener, was impressed with the stadium. Kyle said: "It's a lovely little ground, a right good atmosphere. The pitch is really nice, nice and big. Maybe a bit too big because my calves are feeling it now! That's nice they have got a good stadium, because I have played in some good stadiums down in England and it always helps. They might not get 8,000 every week but if they get a good crowd it will help the team." Kyle, who joined Killie from Coventry on Thursday, made an impressive debut and could have finished Saints off before the break. Mark Howard pushed away his 20-yard drive and brilliantly parried his bullet header.

Kyle said: "I've not played for a month so I was quite happy with how I performed. I hope things get a bit better with more fitness and training, I was feeling tired in the second half. But I think I did my job. I could maybe have walked away with the match ball. The keeper made a fantastic save and the first cross I had I didn't time it quite as well as I normally would. It's the first time I've played 90 minutes and really, really enjoyed it for a long time." Kyle, who scored five goals in 15 matches on loan at Hartlepool this season, is confident there will be more to follow. The former Scotland striker said: "I scored 16, 17 goals one season at Sunderland and then I got injured for two years. Then I went to Coventry for two years and they were the worst four years of my life. But I'm back now and I'm confident of scoring goals. I might not be prolific like Scott McDonald or Kris Boyd but I'll get my fair share of goals, and I'll cause problems."

Editor
Ger Harley (ger@scottishfitba.net)

Admin Team (admin@scottishfitba.net)

This is Scottish-Fitba.Net