ALAN ARCHIBALD is delighted for his Partick Thistle matchwinners after seeing his side edge out St Mirren.

The Jags claimed a deserved three points from a low-key affair in Paisley as Christie Elliott netted the only goal of the game.

It was the forward's second strike in a week as he continues to make the most of his chance to impress in the top flight this term.

After collecting a cross from sub Declan McDaid, the 23-year-old made no mistake as he fired the ball into the back of Marian Kello's net.

Victory over the Buddies capped a dramatic week for both key protagonists after Elliott saw his strike against Hamilton only earn Thistle a point and McDaid suffer a 6-1 Development League hammering at the hands of the Accies.

And boss Archibald has hailed the duo for stepping up to the plate when it mattered as Thistle clinched a much-needed top flight triumph.

He said: "Declan has been training with us every day since pre-season and that lad has a wee chance.

"He has great attributes. He has pace and he can deliver the ball. We've been dripping him into the team slowly but surely. He had a bit more time on Saturday and he made an impact and I was delighted for him. It was a good ball in and it was a good finish from Christie.

"Christie is in a good vein of form at the moment. We are trying to get him to go at players all the time and use the attributes of power and pace that he has and to believe in himself.

"Scoring in two consecutive games won't do him any harm and Declan's impact after coming on won't do him any harm either."

After Elliott had fired Thistle ahead with just 15 minutes remaining, there was a real scare for the Jags in the closing seconds as St Mirren launched a rare foray forward.

Archibald's side have lost a number of late goals since their return to the Premiership but were able to breathe a sigh of relief as Adam Drury's effort struck the bar in the closing seconds.

Archibald said: "You don't want it to happen again and people think, 'same old Thistle losing a late goal'. Last week it wasn't down to us dropping deep or bad habits it was just down to bad defending, that's all it was.

"It was the same on Saturday. You see that shot and you think that's the way luck has been going for us this season, but we got the break and hopefully we will continue to do so."

After seeing Accies fight back to deny them at the death at New Douglas Park, victory over the Buddies was a welcome and timely boost for Thistle.

The Jags are now just five points adrift of sixth-placed Dundee, and Archibald is eager to look onwards and upwards.

"That was the frustrating thing about last week," he told ptfc.co.uk "We knew that if we had won that game we could start to look at the sides above us and [Saturday's] victory now allows us to do that.

"The break probably now comes at the wrong time for us but it does allow us to try and get a few injuries to clear up before the Aberdeen game."