St Mirren were beaten by Motherwell at Fir Park after a quick start from the hosts gave the Buddies too much to do to take anything from the game.
Stephen Robinson made one change from the side that lost to Celtic in the Scottish Cup on Saturday with Tony Watt making his first Saints start in place of the injured Alex Greive. Motherwell were led by interim manager Stuart Kettlewell following the sacking of Steven Hammell at the weekend.
The home side took an early lead when Kevin Van Veen opened the scoring after just eight minutes. Blair Spittal slid the ball through with the Motherwell forward beating Richard Taylor to it and holding off the defender to slide beyond Trevor Carson.
Saints fell two behind a little over 10 minutes later to a sensational Max Johnston effort. The Motherwell winger got on to a ball over the top and fired over Carson into the top corner from a tight angle to double the Steelmen's lead.
But St Mirren did pull a goal back on 24 minutes when Strain netted his third goal of the season. Watt did well down the left-hand side and cut the ball back into the area where it looked like Keanu Baccus would knock home. He fluffed his lines but it fell invitingly for his countryman Strain who reduced the deficit. Strain wasn't far away from drawing us level on 33 minutes when he volleyed wide from 20 yards.
Ryan Strain scored his third goal of the season to reduce the deficit (Image: Jeff Holmes)
Saints knew the next goal would be vital and started the second-half quickly with Main blasting over from a tight angle just 20 seconds after the restart. Nine minutes later Watt saw an effort deflected over after a good bit of play down the right-hand side.
Stephen Robinson made a change on 57 minutes with Alex Gogic making way for Greg Kiltie as we looked for a way back into the match. Saints dominated the possession but were limited to strikes from 20 yards from Strain and O'Hara - both of which were gathered with ease by Liam Kelly. Leiws Jamieson and Ryan Flynn then entered the fray as we headed into the final 10 minutes.
Motherwell passed up a big chance to put the game beyond doubt with a little over five minutes remaining when their substitute Jack Aitchison fired wide from close-range. It almost proved costly as Saints went straight up the park and had the ball in the net but referee John Beaton had blown for a foul which saw us end the night in defeat.
Full-Time: Motherwell 2-1 St Mirren
St Mirren: Carson, Fraser, Gallagher, R.Taylor, Strain (Flynn 79), Baccus, O'Hara (c), Gogic (Kiltie 57), Tanser (Small 31), Watt (Jamieson 79), Main
Subs Not Used: Urminsky, Shaughnessy, Dunne, F.Taylor, Offord
Motherwell: Kelly (c), Johnston, Casey, McGinn, Furlong (O'Donnell 90), Butcher, Goss, Cornelius, Spittal (Slattery 84), Van Veen (Aitchison 78), Obika
Subs Not Used: Oxborough, Crankshaw, Danzaki, McKinstry, Tierney, Dunachie
Referee: John Beaton
Assistant Referee: Alastair Mather
Assistant Referee: Gordon Crawford
Fourth Official: Dan McFarlane
VAR: Euan Anderson
Assistant VAR: Andrew McWilliam
