Toyosi Olusanya’s late strike keeps St Mirren’s Conference League hopes alive

Toyosi Olusanya kept St Mirren’s UEFA Conference League hopes alive with a dramatic late equaliser in a 1-1 draw with SK Brann in Paisley.

The home side struggled for long spells in the first leg of their third qualifier against the visitors who moved the ball with pace and purpose, while the heroics of Buddies goalkeeper Ellery Balcombe kept them at bay.

The visitors went ahead in the 75th minute through midfielder Felix Myhre’s low drive, but in the 89th minute Olusanya popped up with a close-range leveller which Saints will gladly take into next week’s second leg in Bergen, although they will need to increase their level of performance if they are to go through.

Saints went into the game in fine form.

Stephen Robinson’s side beat Icelandic side Valur 4-1 in their previous qualifier before a convincing 3-0 home William Hill Premiership win over Hibernian on Sunday.

The Northern Irishman had skipper Mark O’Hara out again through injury and freshened his side up with Jaden Brown, Oisin Smyth and Mikael Mandron in for Scott Tanser, Dennis Adeniran and Olusanya.

The impressive visitors started with purpose and in the 12th minute striker Bard Finne got behind Saints defender Alex Gogic but his lobbed effort failed to beat Balcombe.

Moments later, at the other end, St Mirren striker Mandron found himself in on goal but he could not get the ball under control and was then crowded out by retreating defenders.

Balcombe had to make further saves from Sander Erik Kartum and Ole Didrik Blomberg before Emil Kornvig missed the target with a drive from distance.

Kartum and Myhre then combined, with the latter drawing another save from Blomberg with his close-range drive.

Buddies fans tried to spur their side on as the interval approached and in the 42nd minute Mandron had a great chance when he met a free-kick from Caolan Boyd-Munce only to head past a post from eight yards.

Saints survived another SK Brann surge just before the break.

The over-worked Balcombe made fine saves from Joachim Soltvedt and Kartum before starting the second half with a great save from Kartum’s 25-yard drive.

As the Norwegian side continued to dominate possession St Mirren stuck to their task but offered little going forward.

Just after the hour, Robinson replaced Mandron, Roland Idowu and Brown with Olusanya, Adeniran and Tanser, looking to disrupt SK Brann’s grip on the game.

The Buddies boss was then booked by Maltese referee Matthew De Gabriele for a touchline indiscretion.

In the 73rd minute, Adeniran’s powerful drive had SK Brann goalkeeper Mathias Dyngeland scrambling to keep it out.

Balcombe saved from Blomberg and Gogic blocked a follow-up drive from Finne but from the resulting corner, the ball fell to Myhre and he rifled a low drive through a ruck of bodies and into the net.

However, there was drama in the final minute when Olusanya bundled the ball over the line from a cutback from fellow substitute James Scott and St Mirren Park erupted in unexpected joy, with Euro hopes resurrected.