St Mirren extended their lead at the top of the Championship table to 11 points after a hard fought win against Dunfermline Athletic.
The Saints saw out a 2-1 victory at East End Park, with goals from Cammy Smith and Jack Baird either side of half time enough to see all three points belong to the Paisley side.
The game started off brightly, with shouts for a penalty from the home fans, after Declan McManus went down in the box after a well whipped cross from Michael Paton. McManus believed Jack Baird was holding him and prevented him getting on the end of the cross, but referee John Beaton waved play on.
It didn’t take long for the deadlock to be broken though, as Cammy Smith put the Saints ahead on the 14 minute mark with a goal of the season contender. Some tidy play by Stephen McGinn in the centre of the park saw him slip through Lewis Morgan who broke through the middle. Morgan then played a reverse back heel into Cammy Smith who was through on goal and coolly slotted past Lee Robinson in the Dunfermline goal.
The rest of the first half saw very few chances for both teams. A strike from Saint’s top goalscorer Gavin Reilly aimed straight at Lee Robinson and Kallum Higginbotham doing the same at the other end of the pitch meant St Mirren went into the break with a 1-0 advantage.
Dunfermline came out in the second half determined to get back in the game, and they succeeded on the 48th minute. A free kick from the right hand side was played high to the back post, where Jean Yves Mvoto headed the ball into the six yard box and Nicky Clark won the race to nod it past Craig Samson to even up the score.
Dunfermline really started to take the game to Jack Ross’ side, with St Mirren’s only chance coming from Kyle Magennis’ dipping freekick from 25 yards which was touched over the bar for a corner.
St Mirren managed to restore their lead on the 64th minute. Another free kick from 25 yards, but instead of taking a pop at goal, Magennis decided to delicately chip the ball to the back post, where Jack Baird was standing alone and volleyed past the Dunfermline goalkeeper to the elation of the travelling support.
Morgan could have put the game out of sight for the Championship leaders on two occasions. The first came after a nice give and go with Adam Eckersley saw Morgan cut in from the left and get away a shot, only to be firmly blocked by Robinson. Then three minutes later Morgan was through again, when Stephen McGinn stole the ball from Dunfermline and played through the overlapping winger who blazed the ball over the bar from 15 yards out.
The remaining few minutes saw the away side really hemmed in which lead to the introduction of Gary MacKenzie for goalscorer Cammy Smith. The Pars plugged away at St Mirren’s defence, but to no avail. Two courageous blocks from goalscorer Baird was enough to prevent Dunfermline and seal a first win away to Pars since 2001.
Full Time: Dunfermline 1-2 St Mirren
St Mirren: Samson, L.Smith, Baird, Davis, Eckersley, McGinn, McShane (Flynn 61), Magennis, C.Smith (MacKenzie 82), Morgan, Reilly (Mullen 78)
Subs Not Used: Stewart, Stelios, Hill, Sutton
Dunfermline: Robinson, Williamson, Talbot, Mvoto, Morris, Paton (Aird 63), Shiels (Craigen 42) Wedderburn, Higginbotham (Ryan 71), McManus, Clark
Subs Not Used: Gill, Martin, Ashcroft, Callum Smith
Referee: John Beaton
Assistant Referee: Graham Chambers
Assistant Referee: Drew Kirkland
Attendance: 5,479
Match gallery pictures by Allan Picken © - Allan Picken Photography
