Defender Richard Tait proved an unlikely goalscoring hero for the Saints after producing a moment of sublime skill to seal a deserved first league win of the season.
St Mirren have been on the hunt for a clinical finisher, with Jonah Ayunga and Keanu Baccus both going close to opening the scoring in a dominant first half for the home side in Paisley.
It looked like those misses might come back to bite them against the Staggies, with the visitors threatening to nick all three points on the break throughout an entertaining match.
But Tait showed his attacking Buddies how it's done five minutes into the second half, curling a sensational strike into the top corner to earn a welcome first win of the campaign.
Marcus Fraser slotted into the Saints back three in place of the suspended Declan Gallagher, with Curtis Main leading the line alongside Jonah Ayunga who picked up his first Premiership goal again/st Aberdeen.
It was a feisty opening period at the SMISA stadium, with Ayunga and Ross County defender Alex Iacovitti enjoying a running battle in the opening 10 minutes.
Staggies skipper Alex Baldwin went into the book for a cynical stop on Greg Kiltie as he looked to break into the box, with Ryan Strain slamming wide from a promising position as the Buddies looked to break the deadlock.
Strain was impressing down the right wing in the early stages. He skinned Ben Purrington out wide before sending a teasing cross to the back post that was desperately cleared by the County defence.
St Mirren were dominating and were inches from taking the lead on the 20 minute mark. Keanu Baccus snapped into a tackle to win the ball back before teeing up Ayunga, who slammed a long range shot past Ross Laidlaw that smacked off the base of the keeper's far post.
After a frantic start the game settled down, with the home side still dominating proceedings but unable to carve open the Staggies' defence.
The visitors were dangerous on the break, with a long ball releasing Jordy Mayifulia in over the top. Saints centre back Charles Dunne snuffed out the chance with ease.
Owura Edwards burst past Fraser with ease on the left wing before setting up Dom Samuel, who saw a shot well blocked as Ross County continued to grow into the game.
St Mirren's Main collected an Ayunga header before blazing over the bar, ignoring the promising runs on the far wing.
It was end to end as the half, with Josh Sims cutting in from the right wing before finding Owura in the box. He somehow managed to hit his shot off his own face, much to the delight of the home fans in the ground.
St Mirren could and probably should have opened the scoring just before the half-time whistle. Baccus dummied cleverly past a County defender before firing over the bar with the goal at his mercy.
Ross County returned for the second half with two new faces, Jordan White and George Harmon entering the action as the Staggies looked to pose more of a threat up front.
It was the Buddies that quickly made their mark on the scoresheet though. The impressive Baccus burst through the midfield before setting up Main in the box. After a couple of ricochets the ball eventually fell to Tait, who curled home a sumptuous strike into the top corner
Ross County were far from out of the match and almost levelled shortly after going behind. Callum Johnson was left with far too much space on the right wing, with the midfielder bending a lovely cross to the back post that Owura Edwards could only divert onto the post with Trevor Carson beaten.
Sub White then bent a shot well wide of the left post from the edge of the box as the Staggies continued to press hard for an equaliser.
St Mirren were struggling to hold onto the ball as they had for the majority of the game, with Ayunga firing a left foot effort well wide as chances became less frequent for the home side.
Ross County almost equalised at the death, but thankfully for Stephen Robinson's men keeper Carson produced a wonderful one-handed save to deny Kazeem Olaigbe at the near post.
