St Mirren ran riot at the SMISA Stadium to inflict a bruising 5-1 defeat on struggling Kilmarnock.
The Paisley side dominated from the off and found themselves 2-0 up inside the opening nine minutes thanks to Caolan Boyd-Munce’s low strike and Roland Idowu’s penalty.
Boyd-Munce doubled his tally in the 58th minute before Saints skipper Mark O’Hara and Declan John both found the net during a four-minute spell to heap more misery on the visitors.
A late Bruce Anderson penalty offered little consolation for Derek McInnes’ men.
St Mirren have moved into seventh and within a point of Hearts in the final top-six place.
Both teams had to cope with the driving rain and wind at kick-off, though the hosts would make a blistering start.
They broke the deadlock in the sixth minute with the first effort of the match. Jonah Ayunga laid the ball to Boyd-Munce, who found the net with a low strike beyond Robby McCrorie from just outside the box.
Things got even better for Saints when they were awarded a penalty just a minute later after Ayunga was adjudged to have been felled by Lewis Mayo.
Idowu stepped up to take the spot-kick and coolly sent the keeper the wrong way to double their advantage with only nine minutes on the clock.
Killie had a huge opportunity to reduce their arrears in the 24th minute but Liam Polworth would head over from close range following Liam Donnelly’s precise delivery to the back post.
McInnes introduced David Watson in place of Brad Lyons at half-time as he looked to spark some life into his struggling side.
However, it was St Mirren who continued to look the more likely. In the 52nd minute, Richard Taylor latched on to Boyd-Munce’s cross, only to be denied by the post from two yards out.
Five minutes later, a good stop from McCrorie diverted Ayunga’s strike behind, but it would prove only to be a temporary reprieve for the visitors.
John’s delivery from the resulting corner was cleared only as far as the edge of the box and Boyd-Munce was perfectly placed to sweep home his second of the afternoon.
The Rugby Park men were enduring a torrid afternoon and matters only got worse when Saints skipper O’Hara drilled into the bottom corner in the 66th minute following some terrific build-up play.
Saints continued to throw men forward in search of more goals, and with 21 minutes remaining, John added his name to the scoresheet after beating the Killie ‘keeper at his near post with a powerful angled shot.
Four minutes from the end, Anderson converted from the spot after Taylor’s foul on Joe Wright.
However, it offered little to cheer about for the away fans who remained to voice their anger at their team’s performance.
What the managers said…
St Mirren assistant boss Brian Kerr: “The performance was excellent, I think it was coming to be honest.
“We’ve had some real good performances over the last seven or eight weeks without the result backing that up.
“It just felt everyone was bang at it today, we had a real good feeling about how the boys had prepared.
“Everything has come together, it was a right good performance and result.”
St Mirren manager Derek McInnes: “It was such a disappointing afternoon, we never got out at the start.
“I can only apologise to the supporters – they deserve better than that. The conditions were horrendous, more so for my players into the wind but it’s not an excuse.
“I think we will [stay up], I think we’re better than some teams in the league. I feel we’ve got bigger and better performances in us.
“Obviously, we’re going to be in the bottom six, the only team that we play that won’t be in and around us will be Celtic.”
