Dargo Ends His Goal Famine (2008)

(first published in the match programme for St. Mirren v Kilmarnock, 29^th March 2025)

By the last weekend of March, most clubs would have faced each other three times and be gearing up for the final round of "Split" fixtures, but on 29^th March 2008, due to postponements and rearranged schedules, St. Mirren were meeting Gretna for only the second time that season, the previous match having also been played at Love Street.

The Clubs were due to meet at Motherwell's Fir Park on 2^nd January but after the untimely death of Phil O'Donnell just a few days earlier at the same venue it was felt, quite rightly, as a mark of respect that the game should be postponed. Despite being rescheduled for 11^th March, Fir Park failed a pitch inspection on that day and the match had to be postponed.

At this stage in the campaign, Saints were in a rather false second bottom position in the league. They were within touching distance of the sides above them, but had played two games fewer, those being the away fixture against Gretna and the much-postponed home match against Rangers.

Gretna, on the other hand, were in serious trouble. Financial difficulties had forced them into administration on 12^th March, resulting in an automatic ten-point deduction and redundancies at the Club. Anything other than a victory in the match against St. Mirren would see them relegated from the Premier League.

The visit of Gretna saw issue number 21 of the 48-page full colour Saints programme for the season, measuring 17cm by 24cm and printed on thin gloss paper. Gus MacPherson's introduction was followed by Jim Hamilton's "It Happened This Day", which covered matches from the past five decades. "View from the North Bank" by David Grier then discussed the recent Scottish Cup defeat to St. Johnstone and the many instances of fans being messed around by the football authorities.

"Past Games" was in the unique position of being able to feature the only two previous competitive meetings between the sides; Gretna's 1-0 Scottish Cup victory in 2006 on their way to the Final, and St. Mirren's League victory by the same score earlier in the current season.

Brian Wright's "The Wright Angle" took an in-depth look at referees and the SFA's 23^rd Man campaign, whilst the first of Stuart Gillespie's two "SPL Round Up" contributions looked at the matches from Week 28 of the season. Colin Orr's "Last Time Out" then reviewed Saints' early March matches against Kilmarnock and St. Johnstone.

The subject of the centre-page spread was Franco Miranda, the second time he had been featured in the slot of that season's programme.

The effect of the Second World War on the Scottish game in general and on St. Mirren in particular was discussed by Brian Wright in "The Love Street Years". This was followed by a page of photo action from Saints' recent 1-1 draw against Aberdeen and the second part of "SPL Round Up", covering Week 29. David Longwell then announced SMiSA's backing of Saints' Youth Development Programme in "The Academy".

"Marketing Matters", news from various corporate events, statistics, kit sponsors and team listings completed the £2.50 programme, nineteen pages of which was composed of adverts.

Due to collectors' interest in first and last season programmes and Gretna matches in particular, this can be a tricky issue to find. In fact, it may be harder to obtain than the programme for Gretna's last away fixture, which was also played at Love Street.

In windy conditions, a crowd of 3,577 saw the visitors almost take a surprise lead from defender Daniel Hall's looping header. However, St. Mirren gradually took control and summer signing Craig Dargo scored his first competitive goal for the Club with a neat finish from Jim Hamilton's pass in the 27^th minute.

Dargo could easily have turned his goal famine into a feast in the first half, but he missed two more chances, one just clearing the bar and the second coming off Greg Fleming's left-hand post.

The Buddies started the second half strongly and Billy Mehmet doubled their lead in the 49^th minute when he latched on to an Andy Dorman corner to send a shot through a ruck of Gretna defenders and into the net.

Jim Hamilton then dropped a header onto the visitors' crossbar from a cross by Mehmet before being substituted by Stewart Kean. Saints' other two substitutes that day were making their first team competitive debuts. While Marc McAusland would go on to serve two spells at the Club, it would be Mark Docherty's only competitive appearance.

The 2-0 final scoreline secured safety for Saints and sealed relegation for the borders club, but much worse was to follow. On 29^th May, Gretna were demoted to the Third Division after failing to guarantee that the club would fulfil its fixtures in the following season and on 2^nd June, they resigned from the Scottish Football League altogether.