Saints looked off colour in the opening faze and fell victim to an early Sean Higgins goal in a first half where the visitors made all the running.
In the third minute, Kevin McKinlay saw Kevin Cuthbert pull off a fine save from the County midfielder's 30-yard shot.
Three minutes later McKinlay crossed to the isolated Higgins, standing unguarded on the penalty spot. As Kevin James made a brave effort to close the striker down, Higgin's mistimed shot seemed to deflect off the defender's outstretched leg before trundling past the wrong-footed Saints keeper. Cuthbert's acrobatic save from Lionel Djebi-Zadi's 35-yard screamer confirmed his status as Saints' number one keeper.
It was more of the same in the second half although Saints came more into the game especially late on. Saints midfield seemed to be suffering collective Boxing Day blues as they failed to stamp any authority on the game.
With only 50 seconds gone after the restart, Cuthbert made a ground level save from Higgins after a comedy of errors in the static defence had allowed the striker a shooting chance.
Jason Scotland levelled on the hour mark for Saints when he slotted the ball home on the angle after pressure from team-mates Stephen Dobbie and John Henry finally prised open the County defence. The Trinidadian then had a goal bound effort blocked by Stuart Garden 15 minutes later. With Saints pressure mounting James' 75th minute header from a Darren Sheridan corner looked certain to count but Stephen Dobbie in trying to make certain, succeeded only in diverting the ball skywards and away from danger.
The game was on a knife-edge and could have gone either way. Alex Burke and Jim Lauchlan had two second half efforts saved by man of the match Cuthbert. Three late bookings showed the competitive spirit that had developed as the game to it's unsatisfactory close.