Saints got December off to the worst possible start as they were comfortably beaten by Motherwell at the Simple Digital Arena.
Five first half minutes decided the game in Motherwell's favour as James Scott bagged himself a brace. For his first, the young forward danced in from the edge of the box before firing across Vaclav Hladky into the far corner, following that up moments later by coolly lifting the ball over the Saints goalie after Liam Polworth had nicked it from Tony Andreu.
The second half was pretty much a non-event before any hope Saints had of clawing their way back into things disappeared when Allan Campbell tapped the ball home following a good run from Jermaine Hylton.
The first hint that a bad night may have been in store for the Buddies came inside the first 10 minutes when Gary MacKenzie had to go off injured. Paul McGinn replaced him in the heart of the defence with sub Cammy MacPherson coming on at right back. McGinn tried to make an impact at the other end but his overhead kick sailed well over. It was one of few early chances for either side, Ryan Flynn and Andreu seeing efforts blocked before Scott failed to trouble Hladky from distance.
That certainly wasn't the case just before the half hour mark. There appeared to be little danger when Scott picked up the ball at the side of the box but he dribbled his way into a shooting position and slotting a low shot past Hladky into the far corner. It was good work from the youngster but their hadn't appeared to be much resistance to his fancy footwork.
The lead was nearly wiped out a few minutes later, Kyle Magennis seeing his shot from the edge of the box deflected narrowly wide. Instead, the Steelmen doubled the advantage soon after. Polworth won the ball off Andreu in the middle of the park, appeals for a foul falling on deaf ears, and he fed Scott, who finished superbly past Hladky to put daylight between the sides.
The teenager wasn't finished there and almost bagged a quick-fire hat-trick when he got on the end of Liam Grimshaw's cross, his header going inches wide with Hladky beaten. Another shot from the same player was deflected wide with Saints struggling to cope, Liam Donnelly dragging an effort wide when he should at least have hit the target as the half came to a close.
Hladky easily saved Scott's early second half shot before Declan Gallagher headed Polworth's free-kick just wide, although the flag was up for offside. As with the first half, it was a scrappy affair with little of note until Motherwell put the game to bed, Hylton tormenting the home defence before squaring for Campbell to poke home his side's third with a quarter of the game still to go.
Devante Cole saw his effort cleared off the line by Ryan Flynn and Gallagher headed over from a corner as the visitors pushed for a fourth. A rare Buddies chance came when Junior Morias – who had replaced Jon Obika – worked himself some space before having a shot that went out for a throw in. Andreu was at least a bit closer when he had a go from the edge of the D but still failed to find the target.
Despite those chances, Motherwell still looked the more likely to score and sub Sherwin Seedorf was allowed to drive forward before lashing a shot over. Scott had a later chance to grab his hat-trick, once again cutting in from the touchline before firing wide. It took until the final minute for the Buddies to register a shot on target, Mark Gillespie easily saving from Kyle McAllister. He was in action again in stoppage time, doing well to turn away Andreu's shot after Morias had been unlucky to see his header come back off the post. It would be wrong to say that summed up Saints' night as, for once, they could have no complaints about being on the wrong end of the scoreline.
Full-Time: St Mirren 0-3 Motherwell
St Mirren: Hladky, P.McGinn, MacKenzie (MacPherson 9), McLoughlin, Waters, S.McGinn (c), Flynn, Magennis (McAllister 75), Andreu, Mullen, Obika (Morias 63)
Subs Not Used: Lyness, Henderson, Durmus, Cooke
Motherwell: Gillespie, Grimshaw, Mugabi, Gallagher (c), Carroll, Donnelly, Polworth, Campbell (O'Hara 70), Hylton (Seedorf 75), Scott, Cole (Manzinga 83)
Subs Not Used: Carson, Maguire, Tait, Long
Referee: Andrew Dallas
Assistant Referee: Ralph Gordon
Assistant Referee: Gordon Crawford
Fourth Official: William Collum
Attendance: 4,240
Gallery pictures by Allan Picken © - Allan Picken Photography
