St Mirren returned to the top of the Ladbrokes Championship after coming from behind to defeat Livingston at the Paisley 2021 Stadium.
The visitors stunned the Paisley crowd on 30 minutes when Dale Carrick opened the scoring. But second half goals from Lewis Morgan, Adam Eckersley and Ian McShane sealed the comeback and earned Saints another valuable three points.
Much like Saturday's clash with Inverness Caledonian Thistle, the match started off slowly with the first real chance of the game not registered until the 14th minute. Morgan sent across a nice ball into the area where it was met by the head of Kyle Magennis. The 19 year-old leaped above the Livingston defender to get the flick on it but the ball drifted just by the right hand post.
The Buddies had the ball in the net just after 20 minutes when Cammy Smith headed home from a corner. But referee Gavin Duncan quickly blew his whistle to rule out the effort after judging their to be a foul on Livi keeper Neil Alexander. The Lions quickly burst up the park and almost caught Saints out with Craig Samson making a good stop to deny Nicky Cadden.
Livingston took the lead on the half hour mark when Carrick netted against Saints for the second time this season. The midfielder, who scored in Livi's Betfred Cup triumph over St Mirren in July, was on hand to fire home after Josh Mullin's initial attempt had been blocked by Samson.
Gavin Reilly fashioned himself a good chance when he outmuscled Craig Halkett to get himself one-on-one with Alexander. But his strike was straight at the goalkeeper from a tight angle. Stephen McGinn also had a go five minutes before half-time but his long range shot on his weaker foot was held by the Livi goalkeeper.
Saints looked to have grabbed a leveller just minutes before the break when an Adam Eckersley cross came crashing off the underside of the bar and hitting off Alexander before then coming off the post and a Livingston player as it rolled out for a corner.
Half Time: St Mirren 0-1 Livingston
Livingston almost extended their lead five minutes into the second half when a great ball across the box looked set to be met by the head of Keaghan Jacobs, but the Livi player couldn't get himself on to what would likely have been a tap-in from close range.
And before they knew it, Saints were back on terms. Morgan took a short corner to McShane who played the ball back to the winger. He burst into the box and unleashed a shot that squirmed under the arms of Alexander.
The Buddies could have had a quickfire second after a wonderful move ended in Cammy Smith finding Ian McShane in a good area in the box, but the midfielder ballooned the effort high and wide.
St Mirren would take the lead though when Adam Eckersley helped the ball into the net on 66 minutes. The defender burst forward and took the ball from Morgan before beating Alexander. The ball was cleared off the line by Declan Gallagher only for it to cannon off the goalkeeper's back and nestle into the net.
Saints sealed the points with a little over 10 minutes to play when Ian McShane netted from the penalty spot. Jack Baird was fouled as the ball came into the box from a corner and the referee showed no hesitation as he awarded the Buddies a spot kick. McShane who scored the opener in Saturday's win over Inverness with a penalty made no mistake as he sent Alexander the wrong way from 12 yards to put St Mirren 3-1 ahead.
That was enough to give Saints all three points and put them back to the top of the table - two points clear of Dundee United.
Full Time: St Mirren 3-1 Livingston
St Mirren: Samson, L.Smith, Baird, Davis, Eckersley, McShane, McGinn, Magennis (Stelios 88), C. Smith (Buchanan 79), Morgan, Reilly (Sutton 89)
Subs Not Used: Stewart, McCart, Kirkpatrick, Duffy
Livingston: Alexander, Lithgow, Halkett, Gallagher, Byrne, Pittman, Longridge, Jacobs, Mullin (De Vita 60), Cadden (Mackin 70), Carrick (Todorov 60)
Subs Not Used: Maley, Penrice, Knox, Henderson
Referee: Gavin Duncan
Assistant Referee: Gavin Harris
Assistant Referee: David Doig
Attendance: 3,177
