ROLAND TO THE RESCUE

Idowu leaves it late to secure a third top-six finish in a row

- Colin Paterson

Roland Idowu etched his name into Buddies folklore with a dramatic late winner to clinch St Mirren a hat-trick of top-six finishes.

The Irish maverick climbed off the bench to strike the crucial blow and deliver when it mattered most for Saints.

Victory was enough for Stephen Robinson's men on Saturday as Hearts who were in sixth spot at kick-off - limped to a 0-0 draw 23 miles away at Motherwell.

Idowu's goal capped a rollercoaster of an afternoon which saw Caolan Boyd-Munce and Jonah Ayunga wipe out Ronan Hale's opener for Ross County, who themselves drew level through Jordan White.

Robbo gambled - as he simply knew he had to - in pursuit of success and threw on attackers in a daring bid to find the winning goal.

And he was rewarded in fine style thanks to Idowu who scored the first goal of Saints' pre-split Premiership campaign against Hibernian - and then the last one.

Saints made one change to the side which lost 2-0 at Dundee with top goalscorer Toyosi Olusanya replacing Idowu in attack.

There was a boost to the Buddies bench as Northern Irish international winger Conor McMenamin returned from a four-month injury lay-off.