St Mirren opened their Ladbrokes Championship season with a first opening day win since 2006 as they came from behind to deservedly defeat Falkirk 3-1 at the Paisley 2021 Stadium.
Nathan Austin gave the Bairns an early lead before goals from Stelios, Cammy Smith and Gavin Reilly gave Saints all three points.
Jack Ross elected to name the same starting eleven that defeated Airdrieonians 5-0 a week prior.
But the Buddies couldn't have gotten off to a worse start with the vistors taking the lead with a little over 90 seconds on the clock. Gary Irvine slipped inside the box allowing ex-Saint Rory Loy to curl an effort towards the top corner that Craig Samson could only push into the air. Nathan Austin was on hand to nudge the ball over the line from close range to put Falkirk ahead.
Saints' best chance of the match came after 24 minutes after a quick break from Lewis Morgan. The winger played a sensational cross field pass onto the head of John Sutton who nodded it down into the path of Cammy Smith. The striker was one-on-one with Robbie Thomson but stuck his attempt over the bar.
St Mirren got themselves level on 33 minutes as Stelios scored Saints' first league goal of the season. The left-back charged onto a great ball across from Gavin Reilly and drilled it low beyond Thomson to level the proceedings.
The home side grew in confidence after the equaliser winning a couple of corners, the best chance coming when Morgan curled wide after a McShane corner.
Falkirk almost got themselves in front for a second time just before the break when Myles Hippolyte flashed a powerful low drive a whisker by the post.
Half Time: St Mirren 1-1 Falkirk
While Saints couldn't have wished for a worse start to the first half, they got off to the perfect start after the interval. Just 45 seconds into the second half Falkirk keeper Thomson clawed at Gavin Reilly's cross from the right hand side, but only succeeded in putting it into the feet of Smith who composed himself before driving the ball into the net.
Goalscorer Austin went close to grabbing his second when he sprinted into the box, closely guarded by Gary MacKenzie. The big defender did his best to hold him off but the striker eventually got the shot away which Samson blocked.
And less than 10 minutes later it was Smith's turn to play provider for Reilly. Smith played a delightful through ball for the striker who burst through and finished it beautifully with a hard, low strike across the face of goal into the back of the net.
Falkirk's hopes of salvaging anything from the match were dealt a blow on 76 minutes when Aaron Muirhead was shown a straight red card. It was a deserved sending off for the Bairns defender as he caught Stelios with an elbow as the pair went up for a header.
Yet the visitors should have pulled a goal back when substitute Lee Miller was sliding in at the back post. He connected with the low ball across inside the six yard box, but somehow failed to guide it into the net.
Jack Baird almost got Saints a fourth as he rose above the Falkirk defence to head just over from a McShane corner.
That was the last chance in the match with Saints ending up deserved winners and getting their season off to a flying start.
Full Time: St Mirren 3-1 Falkirk
St Mirren: Samson, Irvine, MacKenzie, Baird, Stelios, Smith (O'Keefe 90), McGinn (c), McShane, Morgan, Sutton (Kirkpatrick 89), Reilly (Stewart 83)
Subs Not Used: Stewart, Buchanan, Whyte, Eckersley
Falkirk: Thomson, Muirhead, Grant, McKee, Kerr, Austin (Gasparrotto 78), Hippolyte, Harris (Shepherd 65), Gallacher, Loy (Miller 50), Watson
Subs Not Used: Mitchell, Taiwo, O'Hara, Craigen
Referee: Don Robertson
Assistant Referee: Anthony Cooper
Assistant Referee: Colin McAlpine
Attendance: 4,639
Match Gallery pictures by Allan Picken © - Allan Picken Photography
