St Mirren captain Mark O’Hara jokingly risked the wrath of his own support but there was plenty to smile about for Stephen Robinson’s side as they emphatically saw off Forfar to top their Viaplay League Cup group and prepare for the start of the Premiership next weekend.
With the hosts two goals to the good after a five-minute brace from Mikael Mandron, referee Matthew McDermid pointed to the spot when Keanu Baccus was barged by Adam Hutchinson just inside the box. O’Hara, St Mirren’s top scorer last season and with a 100% penalty record to boot, immediately claimed the ball with Mandron’s appeal for his hat-trick ignored.
It resulted in a few jocular boos around the ground but given the one-sided nature of the performance, St Mirren could afford to indulge in a few chuckles.
“I told him Mark was taking it,” he said. “There was no ambiguity about it. I don't care if he had six goals - Mark was taking it. Mark is the penalty taker. We focus on the simple things here and he takes the penalties. It is a set way of doing things. Mark is the best penalty taker and he takes them. I don't think Mika knew that - or didn't see Mark practicing them every day.”
Robinson will know that replicating this kind of form will be key in ensuring that his side sustain the top-six foundations they built last term.
They were dominant from first to last against Forfar with the number of goals against Ray McKinnon’s side dumping them out of the competition.
Marcus Fraser set a tone for the day when he almost forced a mistake from Forfar keeper Marc McCallum when his cross was pushed away by the stopper in the opening minutes. It was the catalyst for the opener with Saints taking the lead from the resultant corner when Mandron headed in from Ryan Strain’s corner.
The second followed just five minutes after the opener with the impressive Strain lifting the ball over the head of Stuart Morrison before bursting forward to cut the ball back from the byline for Mandron to convert.
Strain almost got in on the act himself when he eased his way past a couple of players before taking aim from the edge of the box with his effort sneaking just past the post.
Josh Skelly tried to pull Forfar back into the game with a curling free-kick that St Mirren goalkeeper Zach Hemming had to dive to push away.
The menace, though, was largely from St Mirren with Keanu Baccus attempting an audacious volley from the edge of the box that was too wide to trouble McCallum.
There was an inevitability about the third. It came via the spot after Adam Hutchinson had barged into Baccus with Mark O’Hara calmly converting the penalty as he sent McCallum the wrong way.
By the time the interval came round, St Mirren were four to the good. A corner was not properly cleared by Forfar with Gogic pouncing on the loose ball to force it into the net.
The second-period started in the same fashion with Saints cutting Forfar open twice inside the opening minutes of the restart. The hosts survived without further damage but it felt like a stay of execution.
Substitute Olutoysi Olusanya had a header pushed away by the busy McCallum as St Mirren kept up their pressure. Still, Forfar’s Matthew Allan crashed a header off the crossbar in a rare foray forward from the visitors.
“The first-half was very good,” said Robinson. “We were strong. There is always a danger it becomes like a pre-season game in the second but we got minutes into the legs of players. Stav Nahmani got another 45 minutes and Mika got another couple of goals so there are a lot of positives. We should have scored more but overall I’m very pleased.
“We have got strikers scoring, we have options and we have different systems. I have been criticised for calling these games pre-season but they are. The format puts people under pressure in terms of players playing minutes they aren't ready for. We are happy to get through that. We are in a good place and a good position.”
