Scott Tanser's second-half volley was enough to see St Mirren pick up all three points in a 1-0 win over Motherwell.
The left-wing back's first goal of the season saw Saints win at Fir Park for the first time in almost three years and extend the current unbeaten run to 10 matches.
Captain Mark O'Hara returned to the starting eleven after weeks of injury, while Mikael Mandron also came back into the starting eleven after missing our 1-1 draw with Livingston at The Tony Macaroni Arena. That saw Keanu Baccus and Toyosi Olusanya drop to the bench in the only changes to the side from last time out.
The Buddies made a relatively bright start with Tanser and Alex Gogic both firing efforts wide in the opening moments before Conor McMenamin had a big opportunity on 15 minutes. The Northern Irish forward - who impressed for his home nation during the international break - was picked out by Mandron with a nice pass from the left, but McMenamin sclaffed at it which allowed Liam Kelly to comfortably gather in the Motherwell goal.
Marcus Fraser went into the book five minutes later after he obstructed Harry Paton close to the Saints box. Blair Spittal took the resulting free-kick for the hosts but sent it into the arms of Zach Hemming.
McMenamin wasn't too far away from his first St Mirren goal when he sent an effort just over the bar from 20 yards after good work from Greg Kiltie saw the forward rob the ball from a Motherwell defender. Less than a minute later the home side came even closer when Theo Bair got in behind the Saints defence. The forward looked odds on to put his side ahead but fired his effort just by the far post as the first-half ended goalless.
Saints would take the lead 10 minutes after the restart when Tanser scored his first of the season. The 28-year-old ghosted in at the back most to meet a deep Ryan Strain cross and volleyed beyond Kelly to put Stephen Robinson's men ahead. There was a VAR check for offside but the goal stood, much to the delight of the 1000+ travelling support.
Scott Tanser volleys St Mirren ahead against Motherwell (Image: Vagelis Georgariou)
The Buddies almost doubled their advantage just four minutes later when Mandron was picked out by Strain this time at the far post. The forward rose to meet the corner, but his header was well saved by the feet of Kelly.
The hosts would start pushing for an equaliser with Hemming equal to a Callum Slattery free-kick, getting two good hands behind the effort to push away on 65 minutes. Motherwell introduced Oli Shaw from the bench with a little over 10 minutes to play and the striker had a chance to make an instant impact when he was found in space inside the box. But Shaw struck a tame effort straight into the hands of Hemming.
As the game ticked towards injury time, Motherwell were inches away from a leveller when substitute Georgie Gent's strike was touched on to the underside of the bar by Hemming before Saints managed to get clear.
The Buddies would stay resilient though to ensure the three points would head back to Paisley.
Full-Time: Motherwell 0-1 St Mirren
St Mirren: Hemming, Fraser, Gogic, Taylor (Dunne 46), Strain (Bolton 83), O'Hara (c), Boyd-Munce (Baccus 46), Tanser, Kiltie, Mandron (Greive 83), McMenamin (Olusanya 68)
Subs Not Used: Urminsky, Small, Jamieson, Nahmani
Motherwell: Kelly, O'Donnell (Gent 84), Mugabi, Blaney (Ferrie 90), Casey, Spencer, Slattery, Miller, Spittal, Paton, Bair (Shaw 78)
Subs Not Used: Oxborough, Zdravovski, McGinley, Wilson, L.Ross, M.Ross
Referee: Matthew MacDermind
Assistant Referee: Sean Carr
Assistant Referee: John McCrossan
Fourth Official: Graham Grainger
VAR: Don Robertson
Attendance: 5,653 (1013 St Mirren supporters)
