St Mirren players have dedicated their Christmas Eve win against Aberdeen to All Whites striker Alex Greive in memory of his father who has died.
Greive (23) missed the 3-1 victory after returning to New Zealand to be with his family for the December 28 funeral of his father, Richard Greive.
Teammate Declan Gallagher told Renrewshire Live Sport the St Mirren side were determined to win the Scottish Premiership fixture for Greive.
“That result was for him and all the boys wanted to let him know that. We wanted that one for him and it definitely gave us added motivation.
“One thing the gaffer said to us before we went out there was to hold your loved ones close. There’s a boy who would love to be playing football, and who had a chance to start the game because he was flying, but because of those circumstances, it’s not happened.
“He said to make sure we did it for Alex and that was important because we’re a close group. It’s good we could do it for him.”
St Mirren came from a goal down to win with an own goal, a Mark O’Hara penalty and a Greg Kiltie goal five minutes into stoppage time.
Game over, defender Gallagher said thoughts returned to their teammate.
“The boys are gutted for him.
“He wished us all the best before the Aberdeen game in our WhatsApp group which was amazing to see, he was still thinking of us.
“It’s obviously upsetting for him and we’re thinking of him.”
Greive joined St Mirren in January 2022 and has already signed a two-year extension to his initial contract after performing well in Scotland, and winning selection to the national squad.
Greive played his youth football for Papakura City and Waitakere City before moving to Birkenhead United where he scored 19 goals in 19 games in 2021, and attracting the attention of St Mirren who have a partnership with the Auckland club.
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