St Johnstone struggled in the forward department but remained defensively sound to add another point to their Premiership total.
The Perth side could only muster a couple of shots on target during a 90 minutes that saw Chris Kane sent off late on.
It was far from a classic at McDiarmid Park but Saints did nudge their unbeaten run to three games heading into the international break.
Callum Davidson had emphasised the need for a quick start but perhaps even he didn’t expect a chance to arrive after just 10 seconds.
St Mirren completely botched-up kick-off and that sent Glenn Middleton powering forward towards the box. A man with a vicious left boot, he cut inside and went for glory but goalkeeper Jak Alnwick was down quickly to save.
The foray into opposition territory was a brief one and soon the Buddies were threatening themselves when Jamie McGrath lifted into the box for Curtis Main. His header was straight at Scotland international Zander Clark.
Main had enjoyed a productive start to the game and on 11 minutes he sent a swivelling shot narrowly wide of the far post.
Later in the half the visiting forward again attempted to break the deadlock, this time forcing Clark to touch a left-footed strike behind for a corner.
Perth boss Davidson wasn’t happy with what he witnessed in the first half and made two changes for the restart. Shaun Rooney and Stevie May were sent on for Michael O’Halloran and Middleton.
Saints continued to struggle to trouble Alnwick’s net as the hour mark approached but, likewise, Clark wasn’t overly busy.
He did need to be alert when former Perth full-back Scott Tanser, now of St Mirren, was lining-up a free-kick in the 61st minute.
The strike had the required power but drifted over the crossbar and the score remained level.
Not long after another former Saint in Joe Shaughnessy created panic in the home defence with a header back across goal. It was turned narrowly wide before David Wotherspoon replaced Ali Crawford in the 66th minute.
The vocal home support - again the fans at the scoreboard end of the East Stand were fantastic - continued to provide an excellent backing but a spark remained missing on the field of play.
Wotherspoon did show neat feet on 77 minutes but his effort from the edge of the box was weak and never finding the back of the net.
Saints’ cause wasn’t helped when referee Greg Aitken showed Kane a second yellow card - this time for dissent - with five remaining.
But there was no winner and the Perth men remain ninth in the table.
