John Hughes made two changes to his side from the team that were held to a score-less draw in the Edinburgh derby two weeks ago. Derek Riordan and Sol Bamba returned to the starting line-up and that resulted in Colin Nish and John Rankin dropping to the bench.

Hibernian starting the game impressively, stroking the ball around with confidence - yet it was the home side that had the first effort on goal. McBride failed to clear his lines on the edge of the penalty area, his clearance landing at the feet of Barron. The full back took one touch to control the ball before shooting just wide from 22 yards.  Moments later the St Mirren defender was involved again when he played an excellent free kick into the heart of the penalty area that Stack just managed to punch clear under pressure from Higdon. There was an unfamiliar look to the Hibernian defence with Stevenson at left back, Murray and Bamba in the centre and Captain Hogg at right back. Those changes appeared to affect the fluidity of the Hibernian back line and St Mirren pushed to expose this early on.

Ross got beyond Stevenson and reached the bye-line before cutting back to Thomson who was only denied by a point blank save by Stack, the goalkeeper blocking superbly with his legs. St Mirren kept up the pressure and Stack was once more called into action when he had to push away a curling right footed drive from McGinn that looked to have him beaten.  An injury to Kevin McBride forced Hibernian into an early change when the midfielder limped from the field and was replaced by Rankin on 16 minutes. Not long after Hibernian created their first chance of the afternoon when Stokes broke forward on the counter attack before playing a one-two with Wotherspoon and firing across goal and wide.

The best chance of the afternoon so far fell to St Mirren when a long ball forward was missed by Bamba and that allowed Mehmet in behind the Hibernian defence. The striker however did not realise just how much time he had and his snatched effort was well off target. The home team looked the more likely side to break the deadlock and on 25 minutes they had another chance when a St Mirren corner kick was only cleared as far as McGinn, who immediately hooked it back into the danger area. Mehmet was onto it in a flash but his first time volley was just over the top.

Seconds later a break of the ball off Bamba sent Dorman racing through on goal, as Stack raced from his goal the midfielder knocked the ball past him and wide of the target to the frustration of the home support. It proved a costly miss as completely against the run of play Hibernian opened the scoring when Rankin fed Miller who played it wide left to Riordan, the striker had only one thought in his mind and his stunning right foot effort curled into the top corner of the net leaving the goalkeeper helpless.

Riordan had another opportunity soon after as Hibernian pushed forward on the counter attack, this time the Scotland striker failed to catch it properly and Gallacher saved easily. The opening goal had kick-started Hibernian into life and next up was Benjelloun who wrong footed Mair before being denied by a great save from Gallacher. Lewis Stevenson was fortunate to escape a yellow card for a late challenge on Murray, the referee perhaps giving the defender the benefit of the doubt in the wet playing conditions.

St Mirren were still dangerous and a driven cross from Murray was left by Bamba and Stack who were lucky not to concede when Mehmet slid in but could only knock it wide. As half time approached McGinn let fly with an effort from 16 yards that finished over the top of Stack's crossbar.  Two minutes of added time were seconds away from completion when the home side stunned their visitors with an equaliser. Ross' deep cross from a free kick on the right evaded the Hibernian defence - and was bulleted into the net by the head of Innes.

An even first half then with both teams carving out opportunities but John Hughes will be disappointed to lose a goal in the dying seconds even if it was a deserved leveller.

Half Time: St Mirren 1 Hibernian 1

Anthony Stokes and Derek Riordan got the second half under way with neither side making any changes at the interval. It was Riordan that had the first shot at goal when his free kick from 25 yards was over the top of Gallacher's bar, and moments later Stokes volleyed wide from a corner kick as Hibernian looked to restore their advantage at the earliest opportunity.

Ross was fortunate to escape a yellow card after pulling down Riordan on the left after the Hibernian striker had knocked the ball beyond him. The lenient referee however had to act and Barron picked up the first yellow card of the afternoon on 65 minutes for persistent fowling, his latest being a clumsy challenge on Rankin as the substitute burst forward.

The relentless wind and rain was making the playing conditions extremely difficult but both teams still tried to play a passing game. St Mirren went close when Mehmet set up Mair for a strike at goal and the defender's drive across goal had to be watched very closely by Stack before it finished just wide. John Hughes tried to freshen up his attack when he introduced Nish for Stokes - the Irishman had worked hard for his side and was beginning to tire so it was the right decision from the Hibernian boss. St Mirren too made a change when Higdon was replaced by Dargo for the final quarter of an hour.

Benjelloun took a nasty knock on the side of the head when he was caught by the boot of Innes before John Hughes played his final hand when he replaced Wotherspoon with Galbraith. With the clock ticking down towards full time Riordan had a half chance after the ball was glanced into his direction by Barron however his shot across goal was wide. With the players tiring quickly in the energy sapping conditions the play was becoming very scrappy and chances were few and far between. Hibernian had offered very little in attack since the introduction of Nish with the ball not sticking up top and St Mirren enjoying a lot of possession.

Three minutes of additional time were signalled by the fourth official and in the first of those Hogg was cautioned. A draw then and one that neither side would be happy with as both had their chances - but in the end it was perhaps the best result on a day in which football played second-fiddle to the weather.

St Mirren: Gallacher, Ross, McGinn, Mair, Murray, Dorman, Mehmet, Thomson, Higdon, Barron, Innes. Subs: Howard, O'Donnell, Brady, Dargo, McLean, Devlin, Johnson.

Hibernian: Stack, Wotherspoon, Hogg, Bamba, Murray, Stevenson, McBride, Miller, Riordan, Stokes, Benjelloun. Subs: Ma-Kalambay, Cregg, Nish, Rankin, Thicot, Byrne, Galbraith.

Referee: Willie Collum

Report: Richard Payne