St Mirren came from behind to defeat Falkirk 2-1 and claim a first William Hill Premiership victory away from home since September.
Goals from Miguel Freckleton and Liam Donnelly saw the Buddies pick up a first league victory on the road since defeating the Bairns by the same scoreline over five months ago.
Interim manager Craig McLeish made two changes from the side that were edged out by Rangers at The SMiSA Stadium last weekend. That saw Allan Campbell handed his first start, while forward Jake Young came in from the beginning. They replaced Richard King and Jayden Richardson who dropped to the bench.
A bright start saw Killian Phillips drag an effort wide from distance on 13 minutes after brilliant work from Jacob Devaney to win the ball in the middle of the park.
But Saints fell behind two minutes later and it was self-inflicted. Freckleton's attempted back pass was pounced upon by Dylan Tait. It was fed to in-form Barney Stewart who took it first time to slam beyond Shamal George.
Freckleton redeemed himself three minutes later as he got Saints back on level terms. The defender rose the highest to bullet home Scott Tanser's corner kick and restore parity.
Miguel Freckleton scores equaliser (Image: Allan Picken)
The hosts twice came close to regaining the lead as the match headed towards the final 10 minutes of the first-half. Donnelly made a vital interception that would deny Calvin Miller a big opportunity to fire Falkirk back in front. Four minutes later, there was a huge let-off when Stewart met Ben Broggio cross at the back post and crashed a header off the upright from close-range.
Falkirk were in the ascendancy after the restart, but it was Saints who would get themselves in front. O'Hara was fouled on the right-hand side, close to the Falkirk box. The skipper swung the free-kick in where it met the head of Donnelly who found the far corner of the net with his first goal for the Buddies.
Liam Donnelly scores the winner for Saints (Image: Allan Picken)
Saints pressed for a quick fire third and weren't too far away on two occasions within the space of a minute. Nlundulu drove forward after Saints won the ball back from Falkirk after the kick-off. The striker struck from distance, but he low effort flew just wide of the left-hand post. Substitute Jonah Ayunga was denied moments later after coming in from the right-hand side. Falkirk goalkeeper Scott Bain stood tall at his near post to block.
Falkirk, who knew a point who guarantee their top six position, pressed for an equaliser heading into the final 10 minutes. Shamal George made a huge save on 82 minutes to claw away an effort from Filip Lissah after the loanee had got in behind the Saints defence. A brilliant bit of defending from Gogic stopped Stewart going one-on-one in the final minutes with the Buddies seeing the game out to pick up a vital three points heading into the international break.
Full-Time: Falkirk 1-2 St Mirren
Craig McLeish applauds the St Mirren support (Image: Allan Picken)
St Mirren: George, Donnelly, Gogic, Freckleton, O'Hara (c), Phillips, Devaney (Richardson 80), Campbell, Tanser (John 57), Young (Ayunga 57), Nlundulu (Mandron 75)
Subs: Mullen, King, McMenamin, Falconer, Idowu
Falkirk: Bain, McCann, Donaldson (c), Neilson, Lissah, Spencer, Tait (Cartwright 82), Yeats (Ross 69), Miller, Broggio (Graham 82), Stewart (Oliver 88)
Subs: Hogarth, Adams, Allan, Brown, Hart
Referee: Ross Hardie
AR1: David Roome
AR2: Gordon McCabe
Fourth Official: Josh Hay
VAR: Greg Aitken
Attendance: 7,526
