St Mirren 0-3 Queen of the South

Stephen Dobbie notched his 17th goal of the season for Queens

Queen of the South ended an 11-match winless run in the Championship with victory in Paisley to plunge St Mirren further into relegation trouble.

Stephen Dobbie's 17th goal of the season, created by new Queens captain John Rankin, put the visitors ahead.

Kyle McAllister thumped a shot against the bar as Saints threatened an equaliser after the break.

But another debutant, Celtic loanee Joe Thomson, made it two with a tap-in before Gary McKenzie's own goal.

Defeat leaves Saints still stranded seven points behind Ayr at the foot of the table.

Queens remain in seventh, level on points with sixth-placed Dunfermline but only one adrift of Raith Rovers.

New signing Rankin engineered the opening for Dobbie's opener just before half-time with a fine pass and, when Dobbie's effort hit a post 10 minutes from time, Thomson had an easy task from the rebound to seal victory.

The third arrived three minutes from time when substitute Lyndon Dykes' effort went in off McKenzie.

As well as Rankin and Thomson, Queens - who had not won a league game since 17 September - also gave a debut to Dom Thomas, on loan from Motherwell.

John Rankin had an influential game for Queens on his debut for the club

St Mirren were by far the better team for most of the first half with chances falling to John Sutton and McAllister and a series of corners, one triggering a real scramble in the six-yard box.

Rocco Quinn was not far away with a header from another Stevie Mallan corner, but Jack Ross's side could not get the ball in the net, typified by McAllister's effort which rattled the crossbar in the second half.

But in the end in was a convincing first win in charge for Queens boss Gary Naysmith.

At the final whistle, Ross entered the crowd to speak to supporters behind the dugout, who were vocal in their criticism of Saints' performance.

Post-match reaction:

St Mirren manager Jack Ross: "Today's performance isn't acceptable. You have to have pride in the badge you represent and that was lacking.

"The players need to be braver, they need to show more character, because the club is in a terrible position.

"[On an exchange with fans at full-time] If any supporter wants to speak to me in a constructive manner, I'll have a sensible conversation with them. I accept the fans are frustrated. They have been here long before me and they'll be here long after I'm gone.

"But I do things to the best of my ability. Don't think I'm not passionate about my job. This is what I've done for 20 years and I love it."

Queens boss Gary Naysmith: "I thought it was a really good away performance. We got a bit lucky when we scored just before half-time and that gave everyone a boost.

"But we have been in that position before since I've been here and lost the game, so I was conscious not to praise the players too much.

"We defended really well in the second half and hit them on the break. The new boys added energy - Dom [Thomas] and Joe [Thomson] have real hunger and desire to get to the top, and everyone knows what John [Rankin] gives you."