St Mirren made it two wins from two despite being reduced to 10 men in our delayed cinch Premiership match against Dundee.
Kick-off was pushed back to 8:15pm after Dundee arrived late in Paisley and it was late second-half goals from Mikael Mandron and Toyosi Olusanya - either side of a James Bolton sending off - that saw Stephen Robinson's men follow up Saturday's 3-0 win over Hibernian with another important victory.
The manager named an unchanged starting eleven following Saturday's win at Easter Road. Keanu Baccus was on the bench after returning from the Asian Cup. There were three ex-Saints in the Dundee starting line-up with Trevor Carson, Joe Shaughnessy and Curtis Main all picked by Tony Docherty.
After a stodgy opening period, the best chance of the first-half came on 25 minutes when Hyeokkyu Kwon played a brilliant pass through the Dundee defence for Mandron to run on to but the forward's strike was well saved by Dundee goalkeeper Carson.
Alex Gogic went close three minutes later when he got his head on a Caolan Boyd-Munce corner kick but glanced just wide of the far post.
Dundee had their best opportunity of the half in the final few minutes of the opening 45. The Dark Blues looked to hit Saints on the counter with Owen Beck charging clear through the middle of the park. Kwon kept up with the loanee which allowed Saints to get numbers back. Beck still got a shot away but drilled it inches by the right-hand post.
Saints looked the more likely though and came mightily close to opening the scoring 20 minutes into the second-half through substitute Baccus. The returning Australia midfielder was brought on just before the hour mark and was inches away from breaking the deadlock on 65 minutes with a thundering effort that crashed off the bar and over. Boyd-Munce's clipped ball from just inside the box was palmed out by Carson only as far as Baccus who smashed his volley off the woodwork.
Saints' persistent paid off as we made the breakthrough with less than 20 minutes to go when Mandron made it two goals in two matches. Tanser's cross was headed out by Owen Dodgson only as far as Mandron who brought it down on his chest before lashing home from the edge of the box. Carson got two hands to it but couldn't prevent it hitting the net much to the delight of the 5000+ home support.
The Buddies searched for more and could have had a second on 80 minutes when substitute Lewis Jamieson saw a shot well saved by Carson. Greg Kiltie should have wrapped the game up two minutes later when he got in behind the Dundee defence but sclaffed his effort wide.
Saints looked set to be forced into an anxious final few minutes when Bolton was show a straight red card for a challenge on Dodgson. It appeared to be a harsh call from referee Steven McLean, but despite being sent to the pitchside monitor by the VAR, the whistler stuck with his original call.
Far be it from hanging on, Stephen Robinson's side would go on to seal the victory in injury time when they hit Dundee on the counter. Tanser found Olusanya who held his line brilliant - being played onside by Dodgson - before bursting forward with his electric pace and showing composure to slot home into the near post. The offside flag was raised, but any fears of it not counting were soon assuaged when VAR confirmed the forward was onside and the goal stood. That ensured another big three points for the Buddies to move nine points clear of sixth place Dundee.
Full-Time: St Mirren 2-0 Dundee
St Mirren: Hemming, Bolton, Gogic, Fraser (c), Bwomono, Kwon (Baccus 58), Boyd-Munce, Tanser, Kiltie, Mandron (Olusanya 87), Scott (Jamieson 68, Dunne 87)
Subs Not Used: Urminsky, Taylor, Brown, Flynn, Ayunga
Dundee: Carson, McGhee, Ashcroft (Astley 67), Shaughnessy (c), Dodgson, Beck, Cameron (Bakayoko 77), Boateng (Mulligan 77), McCowan, Mellon (Tiffoney 67), Main (Robinson 59)
Subs Not Used: Sharp, Robertson, Donnelly, Sylla
Referee: Steven McLean
Assistant Referee: Chris Rae
Assistant Referee: Colin Drummond
Fourth Official: George Calder
VAR: Gavin Duncan
Attendance: 5,737
