Surprise win for St Mirren
St Mirren moved off the bottom of the Scottish Premiership table thanks to a deserved 3-1 win over 10-man Dundee at Dens Park.
A double from man-of-the-match Kenny McLean either side of a goal from teenager Stephen Mallan gave caretaker manager Gary Teale his first win since taking over from Tommy Craig.
McLean struck after 28 minutes and Mallan added another in the 68th minute to put the visitors on the road to a surprise win.
And McLean rounded things off with a 78th-minute penalty which saw Dundee defender Paul McGinn red-carded and meant Saints leapfrogged fellow strugglers Ross County, despite Gary Irvine hitting a late consolation for the home team six minutes from time.
Dundee made a bright start with recalled striker Luka Tankulic coming closest to making the breakthrough early on, but his first time effort from 12 yards was tipped over the bar by visiting keeper Mark Ridgers.
However, the Paisley side went ahead in style after 28 minutes.
Dundee defender Thomas Konrad lost possession and McLean quickly played a pass out wide to Sean Kelly, who in turn cut the ball back for the midfielder to dispatch a perfect left-foot finish low into home keeper Kyle Letheren's far corner from 18 yards.
The home team almost drew level a minute later when Gary Irvine forced his way forward from the left-back spot and unleashed a right-foot shot which went just inches wide of Ridgers' near post.
It was end-to-end stuff and next up to try his luck was Tankulic.
The German forward picked up possession and straight away went on a mazy run which ended in a shot from outside the box which was comfortably held by Ridgers.
Dundee almost got back on level terms six minutes before the interval. Tankulic's cross was met by Mallan, who attempted to head clear but in doing so nodded off his own post before the visitors scrambled the ball to safety.
The second half started with Dundee going in search of an equaliser but too many times their final ball let them down.
St Mirren defender Jeroen Tesselaar was booked after 52 minutes for going in high on Martin Boyle as the Dundee winger threatened to run clear in the final third.
Then, at the other end, Saints pair Kelly and Tesselaar combined down the left but there were no takers inside the box as Irvine put the ball behind for a corner.
But on 68 minutes Saints struck the decisive second goal through Mallan. The midfielder went on a solo run which saw him skip past several challenges before sliding a near-perfect shot from 20 yards past the diving Letheren and into the far corner.
And 10 minutes later Saints completed the rout after Paul McGinn had committed a last-man foul on McLean, who was trying to connect with John McGinn's pass inside the box.
Dundee's McGinn was red-carded and up stepped McLean, who drove the ball high into the net to kill any hopes Dundee had of a comeback.
The home side did pull one back six minutes from time when Irvine rifled home a loose ball from 12 yards but it was Saints' day.
Source: PA
