Alan Cochrane @ Rugby Park
A first half almost totally dominated by Kilmarnock ended with them going in at the break a goal ahead, and it should have been more. Sammon and Bryson had both had chances before Connor Sammon opened the scoring, and he did that after only 4 minutes. Fernandez slipped a perfectly weighted pass through the middle, and Sammon took it first time from the edge of the box to beat Gallacher high to his left.
Almost all the other chances fell Killie's way, with Fernandez in particular having a shot saved, when a cut back would have been the better option, and it was the 31st minute before the visitors had a shot, and that was from a Mehmet free kick which Combe gathered comfortably.
Kilmarnock's profligacy was punished after the break though, with two goals coming from bad defensive errors. Only two minutes into the half, Garry Hay failed to clear, Dorman accidentally half cleared it for Killie, but it fell to McGinn who volleyed cleanly past Combe. McGinn did it again mid-way through the half, albeit this time with the aid of a deflection, to give St Mirren a lead that had hardly looked likely at half time.
Kilmarnock tried to fight back and Sammon had a good drive well saved by Gallacher, while Pascali had a decent shot and then header both deflected away. It capped a miserable day for Killie, with Kevin Kyle missing because of keyhole surgery on his knee, Hamill and Invincibile also missing through injury, and Jim Jefferies so short of players that he had both second and third choice keepers on the bench to make up the numbers.
Unlike last week at Motherwell, Jim couldn't fault the players. He thought we had been the better side overall, with St Mirren scoring with their only two shots at goal, but with two weeks before the next game, he will be hoping for some improvement on the injury front. It also looks likely that Alan Combe will require surgery, so the manager could be active in the transfer market before the window closes on Tuesday.
Kilmarnock: Combe, Clancy, Hay, Wright, Ford, Bryson, Taouil, Skelton, Fernandez, Sammon, Pascali (Owens)
St Mirren: Gallacher, Ross, McGinn, Mair, Potter, Murray (Brighton), Dorman (O'Donnell), Mehmet (Dargo), Thomson, Higdon, Barron
Referee: Euan Norris
