Top of the league for a wee while at least, St Mirren fans. What did you make of that performance?
It's been some week, hasn't it? Who has impressed you most? And have your expectations for the season changed?
Andrew Petrie
BBC Sport Scotland
Although there might be debate about the quality of St Mirren’s Europa Conference League opposition last week - some compared Icelandic side Valur to a Championship team - you can only play what is in front of you and the Buddies dispatched Hibs with similar ease.
The first half was rough and tumble, and the hosts only really created anything when they countered.
Once they had absorbed that early pressure, they kicked into life. Driven forward by Idowu in midfield, they became more clinical in the second half and a quickfire double wrapped up all three points.
All this was done without talismanic captain Mark O'Hara, who picked up a niggle against Valur. Despite the impressive performances throughout the team, Stephen Robinson will want him back sooner rather than later.
Image source, SNSRoland Idowu. An all-action performance from the 22-year-old Irishman who is already winning plenty of plaudits early in his St Mirren career.
The former Waterford man arrived with little fanfare from League One side Shrewsbury Town on loan over the summer, but against Valur and again today, he has been St Mirren's stand-out.
He took his goal brilliantly and was unlucky not to score a second, hitting the woodwork. He was also busy in midfield, getting stuck into the opposition, winning tackles, distributing well, and looking composed in possession.
St Mirren: Balcombe; Rooney, Fraser, Gogic, R Taylor, Tanser, Adeniran, Boyd-Munce, Idowu, Olusanya, Ayunga.
Substitutes: Urminsky, Iacovitti, Kenny, Bwomono, Brown, F Taylor, Smyth, Scott, Mandron.
Hibernian: Bursik, Miller, Ekpiteta, O'Hora, Obita, Moriah-Welsh, Newell, Campbell, Molotnikov, Boyle, Vente.
Substitutes: Smith, Levitt, Cadden, Amos, McKirdy, Megwa, Tavares, Bushiri, Kuharevich.
Image source, SNSShaun Rooney was 'gutted' to have his St Mirren debut postponed by suspension, but admits his belated debut goal was a 'nice touch' to make up for it.
The 28-year-old missed the Saints' Conference League first leg clash versus Valur due to a suspension picked up while at former club St Johnstone.
15 minutes into the second leg, however, Rooney popped up with a header which set St Mirren on their way to the next round of qualifying.
"Obviously to score on [my] debut was a nice touch," Rooney said.
"I was gutted to be sitting out last week through suspension but glad to be back with a goal.
"It's more minutes under the belt so hopefully can keep on going."
Rooney's first leg suspension was incurred the last time he targeted group stage football, picking up a red card during St Johnstone's defeat to LASK Linz in the play-off round three years ago.
The defender is keen to progress further in Europe than he ever has before, admitting the allure of continental football was a key reason for joining the Paisley club.
"That’s why I joined St Mirren, for European success.
"Hopefully we get through to the group stages and keep on going but obviously we take it one tie at a time. We have Brann next and I'm looking forward to it.
"We have home advantage first, so a good atmosphere like Thursday and you never know what happens.”
Image source, SNSSt Mirren will conduct a "full review" after the club was found guilty of fielding an unregistered player in St Mirren B's SPFL Trust Trophy match versus Lowland League side Berwick Rangers.
The Saints' 3-2 win at Shielfield Park on Tuesday evening will be recorded as a 3-0 victory for Berwick Rangers, who now progress to the second round to face Dumbarton.
The Paisley side admitted breaching rules during Tuesday's game and have accepted £1,000 fine - which is suspended until 30 June 2025 pending any further breaches.
"We would like to apologise to the players & coaching staff involved and to our supporters," St Mirren stated on X.
"While we felt we presented a strong case to the tribunal on the mitigating circumstances, disappointingly precedence has underpinned the decision that was reached.
"Even though we felt our case was strong, we recognise that there are things we could have done better, and we will conduct a full review into the matter as well as implementing additional measures to ensure this situation does not occur again."
Image source, SNSStephen Robinson heaped praise on the "brilliant" Buddies support who stuck by his St Mirren side in their comfortable victory against Valur.
From the march to the ground, the pre-match tifo display and the constant chanting and cheering, the St Mirren fans packed inside the SMISA stadium certainly made the most of European football's return to their town.
“It was fantastic," Robinson said after the 4-1 win. "A great display at the start with a lot of work that people don’t see, great respect for them.
"The atmosphere in the stadium was brilliant, even when we got a bit tired and they scored the penalty.
“The fans rallied behind us and that’s massive. It shows the club is so together and the fans are enjoying what we’re doing.
“I just said to the boys, the parades and the fanfare around the game was all for the fans. We were there to play with cool minds and cool heads.
“I thought we did that for the vast majority of the game. I thought we should have scored more.
“I believe they only had two shots on target, one was a penalty."
Image source, SNSFor a second successive season, St Mirren will face Hibernian on matchday one, after the Buddies won 3-2 on the opening matchday last term.
Hibernian have only lost one of their last 10 Scottish Premiership visits to St Mirren (W7 D2), a 1-0 defeat in August 2022.
St Mirren have won on matchday one in three of their last six Scottish Premiership seasons (D1 L2), although lost the last time they played at home in their opener in 2022-23 (0-1 v Motherwell).
Hibernian have won on matchday one in six of their last seven Scottish Premiership seasons, although the exception was their 3-2 defeat at home to St Mirren last term.
St Mirren only won one of their final nine league games of last season (D2 L6). Indeed, since the beginning of this run in mid-March, their five points was the fewest picked up by any side in the Scottish Premiership.
Image source, SNSNext weekend's Scottish Premiership match at Pittodrie, involving Aberdeen and St Mirren, has been moved to a 15:00 (BST) kick-off on Sunday, 11 August.
The match was originally scheduled 24 hours before, but due to St Mirren's Europa Conference League third-qualifying round tie against Brann on Thursday, it has been pushed back a day.
We asked you St Mirren fans for your views after an incredible win over Valur in Paisley on Thursday night.
Here's what some of you had to say:
Craig: I was 13 the last time we played in Europe and was there tonight with my eight-year-old daughter. What an incredible atmosphere. The players and fans did us proud. A well deserved win and now looking forward to the next adventure.
Andy: What a fantastic performance from the Saints. A long time ago I was pessimistic about our progression in a European tie but not now. I believe that with this team and manager we can progress to the group stages of this competition.
William: What a thrill for people like Saints legend Tony Fitzpatrick to see the stadium almost sold out and also being shown live on the BBC.
For Tony in particular this must be his great wish. This was a wonderful result and fully deserved. We need to be very mindful that our next opponent Brann have also won their game but we can rightly feel confident.
Kev: So often on great occasions St Mirren have sadly failed to deliver, but in the evening sunshine they brightened up the night with a beautiful performance. It’s nights like this that makes all the heartache of being a St Mirren supporter worth waiting for.
Alistair: Fantastic result on our home return to European football. If we continue to play like we did, we will fear nobody and cause a lot of teams problems.
Anon: Good overall performance and difficult to name a player of the match. Probably Mark O'Hara back to his best, but the entire midfield impressed. The coach of Valur summed it up best - we were a couple of leagues better than them and the crowd played their part in piling on the pressure making the atmosphere hostile for the opposition.
Craig: I waited over 30 years for this and it was worth it. There was a bit of pressure on the Saints to progress in front of a packed stadium and the guys turned up and put on a brilliant performance.
My son is nine and has had his season ticket five years - he has come to expect top six and European football! We're enjoying the ride.
Stephen Robinson has been hailed as the mastermind behind St Mirren's European success after they thrashed Valur 4-1 to progress to the next round of Conference League qualifying.
Broadcaster and St Mirren fan Ali DeFoy spoke to the Scottish Football Podcast after a historic night in Paisley, which she called 'the best night of her life'.
"He's got a great way of working with the players," DeFoy said. "He's got a great way with the fans.
"You can see how much it means to him on the sidelines. It takes over him sometimes, you'll see him running down the sidelines pointing fingers but it is great to see he's so passionate."
DeFoy worked at the club for a few years behind the scenes and was at the club when Robinson arrived to replace the departing Jim Goodwin in February 2022.
"There was a lot of rebuilding to be done for the style of play that he wanted and where he wanted to take the club and his vision.
"He's worked tirelessly in what he's done with the squad, what he's brought into the squad. There's been seven changes and we finished in the top six, so that in itself shows he's just constantly wanting to improve and grow.
"The fact that he has been there as a staple for a good few seasons makes such a difference. In Scottish football, and other other places as well, managers don't get that long.
"For a club to have such trust in a manager and to have them there for consecutive seasons, to be able to build a squad that he wants, the way he likes it to play, it seems to be going great.
"[Last night] I thought, 'yes, this is the kind of football we want to play'. To be in Europe, with the fans, and also have the performance to back it up, it was just so special. He's doing a brilliant job."
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Saints fans, were you at the SMiSA on Thursday night or watching from home? We want your thoughts on that impressive win over Valur.
Was it your first European night in Paisley? What did you make of the side's performance? How are you feeling about the game against Brann?
Robinson eyes group stage qualification
St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson: "It was a really professional performance. It's only our second game of the season, there's been seven changes from last year and the boys are still finding their fitness.
"We've worked on our corners tirelessly. We didn't score enough set plays last year, we've scored two tonight and we had plenty more chances. It's nice to see that rewarded.
"We worked so hard to get here last year, the boys have worked ever so hard to get into the next round. We have no fear. We're going to go and enjoy every minute of it. We've got players that can hurt teams. There's absolutely no reason why we can't get a result.
"I won't get too carried away about the group stages but that's obviously the aim. We've got games before that that'll test the squad.
"We need to be at the top of our game to progress. Can we improve on that performance? I believe we can."
Mark O'Hara produces spectacular volley against Valur
St Mirren captain Mark O'Hara set up one goal and scored a stunner himself.
