Former St Mirren loanee Tony Watt scored a stoppage-time header as Motherwell earned a narrow 1-0 William Hill Premiership victory at St Mirren Park, with the hosts seeing Alex Gogic sent off just moments earlier.
A poor game looked to be petering out to a goalless draw when Watt connected with Lennon Miller’s free-kick to nod beyond Ellery Balcombe at the death.
Stephen Robinson’s side were on top for the majority of the game but could not find a way past goalkeeper Aston Oxborough, who made a number of key saves.
The victory arrests a run of three-successive defeats for Stuart Kettlewell’s side, who move up to fifth place as Saints remain in seventh.
The hosts were unchanged from the side beaten last weekend at Dundee United, while Motherwell made two alterations following their midweek loss to Dundee.
Out went Kofi Balmer and Harry Paton as they were replaced by Shane Blaney and Andy Halliday.
It was St Mirren who had the first chance but Conor McMenamin’s near-post free-kick was easily saved by Oxborough.
Greg Kiltie’s header from a Marcus Fraser cross also landed safely in the goalkeeper’s arms before the forward’s turn and shot was deflected for a corner.
The game then went into a lull with the strong wind not helping either side get into their stride, with overhit passes regularly running out of play.
It was St Mirren who nearly broke the impasse. Kiltie played in McMenamin but his fierce strike hit the top of the crossbar and went over.
It looked like Oxborough had helped the ball on its way with a fine stop but referee Dan McFarlane instead awarded a goal kick.
The home side continued to dominate possession but Gogic’s header from a free-kick lacked the power and accuracy to beat the goalkeeper.
Saints started the second half again on top and McMenamin’s ferocious effort looked destined for the top corner, only for Oxborough to pull off a terrific save.
The flow of the game was not helped by the officiating, with Kettlewell shown a yellow card for protesting too loudly following a questionable decision.
Motherwell were struggling to create much and Watt saw an effort blocked. And they came even closer when Halliday teed up Steven Seddon, whose goal-bound volley was expertly saved by Balcombe.
St Mirren made changes to try to gain some fresh attacking impetus and substitute Mikael Mandron saw his header denied by Oxborough.
McMenamin was next to try his luck from a free-kick just outside the box but shot straight at the goalkeeper.
Balcombe then rescued his team again at the other end, coming out to block well from Apostolos Stamateloupoulos, before saving again from Watt.
Gogic was shown his second yellow card for a trip on Moses Ebiye and from the resultant free-kick, Watt claimed the winner.
