St Mirren kept a sixth clean sheet in a row at home as they picked up a deserved three points this afternoon.
Goals from Harry Davis and Liam Smith helped The Buddies see off Dunfermline and stretch their lead to the top of the Ladbrokes Championship to 11 points.
Saints were well worthy of the win as they put in a classy showing from start to finish.
It was, however, Dunfermline who had the first glimpses at goal with Daniel Armstrong sending a shot just over in the opening two minutes before Pars top scorer Nicky Clark curled wide from the edge of the box on five minutes.
Danny Mullen, who had his best performances in a St Mirren jersey, was causing problems for the visitors early on and his cross almost allowed Cammy Smith to score his 13th of the season, but the forwards header went just over. Mullen then tested Lee Robinson in the Dunfermline goal with an overhead kick after appeals for a penalty when Gary MacKenzie went down inside the box.
Kyle Magennis would have felt he could have done better from a good free kick opportunity on 16 minutes. It was Mullen who was felled right on the edge of the box and Magennis, who scored a super free kick in the win over Brechin two weeks ago, lined up to take. But the midfielder put too much on it as it flew over the cross bar.
Saints almost broke the deadlock three minutes later when Stephen McGinn's rifled effort had to be flicked over the bar by Robinson.
The home side were on top, but Craig Samson had to be alert to deny Clark an opener on 24 minutes. There was a hairy moment just before the break when a pass back to Samson bobbled over his foot and rolled towards the net. However, the keeper was able to recover the situation with ease.
Half Time: St Mirren 0-0 Dunfermline
St Mirren could have gotten off to the perfect second half start when the excellent Ryan Flynn found Cammy Smith in good space inside the box. The forward had the time to compose himself though his shot was straight at Robinson.
The visitors passed up a glorious opportunity to take the lead a few minutes before the hour mark. Pars burst forward with James Craigen found in acres of space on the left hand side of the box. Somehow the midfielder cannoned the shot wide when he looked poised to make it 1-0.
Saints hadn't fallen asleep but the missed Pars chance seemed to give them an extra jolt with Cammy Smith unlucky not to have scored his third goal against Dunfermline this season. The forward showed great skill and pace to break forward, but slid the ball wide of the goal with Gavin Reilly waiting in the centre.
Mullen was soon to be denied his first goal for St Mirren twice in a few minutes. The first saw Robinson push his shot away as it looked to head in to the near left hand post on 62 minutes. Then, five minutes later, the striker was brought down by Jason Talbot as he looked to pull the trigger inside the six yard box. Referee Nick Walsh showed no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot and going to his pocket to show Talbot a second yellow card to send him for an early bath.
Harry Davis, who scored from the spot in the 2-0 win over Queen of the South last month, stepped up once again and made no mistake to put St Mirren into the lead on 69 minutes. Nice.
The Buddies doubled their advantage three minutes later after an absolute howitzer from Liam Smith put Saints firmly in control. The ball fell nicely to the full back on the edge of the area and he slammed the ball beyond the Robinson to seal the three points.
Full Time: St Mirren 2-0 Dunfermline
St Mirren: Samson, L.Smith, Davis, MacKenzie, Eckersley, McGinn, Magennis (McShane 87), Flynn, C.Smith, Mullen (Baird 80), Reilly (Hippolyte 85)
Subs Not Used: Stewart, Stelios, Hill, Sutton
Dunfermline: Robinson, Williamson, Talbot, M'Voto, Ashcroft, Craigen (Martin 71), Beadling, Vincent, Armstrong (Cardle 57), McManus (Morris 74), Clark
Subs Not Used: Gill, Morris, Martin, Cardle, Wedderburn, Higginbotham, Ryan
Referee: Nick Walsh
Assistant Referee: Drew Kirkland
Assistant Referee: Kevin McElhinney
Attendance: 4,240
Gallery pictures by Allan Picken © - Allan Picken Photography and John Millar © - Millar Pictures
